Silver Rose
by Necron Caelestis
Summary: The sequel to Silver Maiden. Lilly Schnee is all grown up and attending the same school her mother had attended. But unlike everyone else at Beacon Academy, she does not quite fit in. Then again, she hardly fits with her own family, being the only Schnee without blue eyes. Will she be able to figure out where she belongs in this world? Or does she have a different destiny entirely?
1. Chapter I

Silver Rose

 _Never Shall I Leave You. Never Shall I Forsake You._

By: Necron

 _Cast thy burdens upon me,_

 _Those among thee who are heavily laden._

 _Come to me, all who are weary of carrying heavy loads._

 _For the yoke I shall give thee is easy,_

 _And my burden light._

 _Come to me,_

 _And I shall give thee rest._

PROLOGUE

Lilly ran out of breath as she finished off another set of Corrupted. This was much different from fighting the Grimm. At least the latter was mostly mindless and taking them down was a simple matter of endurance and strength with a little finesse on the side, but the Corrupted were a different beast altogether.

She looked around, spotting another group stalking her. They had been chasing her in this direction for a while now.

 _A trap,_ she thought before rushing at one of the Corrupted to get off of the path they were forcing her down.

She managed to break through the enemy's formation, but her left arm was sore. She put her other hand to the spot, feeling warm liquid.

 _Dang it. Gotta get out of this mess and patch myself up. If only my aura worked in this place, I wouldn't have to worry so much._

She came upon an abandoned village. The sun had yet to rise and she had no idea what this village would be hiding, but she had to take her chance with it; the Corrupted were gaining on her.

 _This is insane,_ she thought as she quietly opened a door to one of the huts.

She quickly bandaged her wound with the first-aid kit she had brought with her, careful not to make too much noise and attract their attention. Once her left arm was wrapped, she picked up Myrtenaster, gripping it tightly as she peeked out at the horde of Corrupted scouring the village.

 _They're not just running through. Crap, they know I'm here._

She looked around for a way out, but the front door was her only path into and out of this small house. The rear entryway had collapsed and clearing it out would take too much time and make too much noise.

Footsteps neared the door. She held her mother's sword to her chest, preparing her body and mind for the worst.

CHAPTER I

 _Hall of Heroes_

Lilly disembarked the Atlas shuttle, looking straight down the path at Beacon Academy. The brochures didn't do this place any favors at all. She thought the campus would look beautiful from the way it was presented online and in the pamphlets, but in person it was so much nicer. She looked all around, wide-eyed, slurping up some drool she hoped no one else had noticed.

 _So,_ she thought as she proceeded down the thoroughfare toward what she figured was the main building, _this is where mom went, huh? The school that created the heroes of the Labyrinth War._

Someone bumped into her.

"Oh, excuse me!" she said, turning to the amber-eyed girl she had bumped into. She looked up on top of the girl's head. Finishing off the look of her black hair was a set of what she figured to be cat ears in addition to her human ears. She gasped. "You're a Faunus!" she whispered loudly.

"Uh, yeah?" the girl said with an awkward smile.

"Oooh! My name's Lilly! What's yours?"

"Umm, Ingrid."

"Ingrid! Are you a first-year, too?"

"Yeah, I am, actually."

"Straight from Menagerie, or from one of the other kingdoms? Or are you from Vale? Or unaffiliated?"

"Straight from Menagerie. Yup. That's me."

"Cool!" She leaned in. "On the down-low, though, I'm 100% freaking out because I have no idea what the heck I'm even doing here cuz I wasn't supposed to come here at all I was supposed to be going to Atlas Academy although then again that probably wasn't such a good idea oh god I dunno what I'm gonna—"

"Lilly! Relax!"

"Huh?"

"Okay, I'm gonna call you Machinegun Lilly from now on."

"B-But, my weapon doesn't even turn into a gun, though."

"You can't be serious."

Lilly pulled out Myrtenaster. "Yeah. It has, like, Dust stuff, but it's not really a gun...at least I don't think it is. Mom never showed me how to use this thing."

"That's not what I was referring to at all," Ingrid said, putting a hand on her forehead. "Anyway, a Dust rapier, huh?"

"Yeah! Something like that. I think."

"Oh. Cool."

"Hey, so, your weapon. It's a stick."

"Mm-hmm."

"Is it also a gun?"

"Nope."

"So, it's just a stick?"

"Yup."

"What does it do?"

"You can bash people's skulls in with it."

"Oh. Right."

"Wanna know what else it can do?"

"What? What?"

Lilly watched as Ingrid stuck her staff out at someone passing by and he tripped on it, falling face-flat.

"You suck, Ingrid," the boy said as he got up and left.

Lilly covered her mouth, stifling a chuckle, but it got out. "Hang on, you two know each other?" she asked.

"Went to the same combat school together," Ingrid said. "You know Signal?"

"That's the one school on the island off the coast, right?"

"Yahtzee."

"What's a Yahtzee?"

"Never mind."

"Wait, you went to Signal? But I thought you came from Menagerie."

"Yeah. I came from Menagerie. That's literally where I came from, as in, I took an airship from my house in Menagerie to right where we're standing now."

"But you went to Signal."

"Yeah?"

"Why?"

"Because I can?"

"But, that's so far away."

"You're from Atlas and you're going to Beacon Academy."

"Yeah, cuz my mom said I should come here."

"Well, funny, cuz my parents thought the same thing."

"You know what, how 'bout we exchange numbers?"

"Sure, I guess," she said with a chuckle.

Lilly pulled out her scroll, exchanging contact information with Ingrid.

"There!" Lilly said. "Wait a sec." She snapped a photo of Ingrid.

"Hey!" the latter complained. "Would you warn me before you flashbang my eyes?"

"Oh, my bad! Okay, setting contact photo...nice! Check it out!"

Ingrid looked at Lilly's scroll. It was the most unflattering photograph ever captured of her.

"You are going to change that," Ingrid said.

"Nope! It captures your natural kitty beauty!"

"My natural what?" She took another glance at her scroll. "Wait, what did you put as my contact name?"

"Kitty Bae, of course!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope!"

Ingrid let out a heavy sigh. "This is my life now. We're gonna be late for the orientation, by the way."

"Huh? Oh, crap! Race you there!"

While Lilly ran, Ingrid rolled her eyes, walking after her. Lilly arrived at the main hall, where the other first-year students were gathering for the introduction. She recognized the boy that Ingrid had tripped with her staff earlier and stood next to him. He was a whole head higher than her, with black hair that ended just past his ears. They were highlighted red at the tips.

"Hi!" she said.

"Oh, it's you," the boy said. "You making friends with monster cats already?"

"Monster cats?"

"Yeah. Ingrid."

"Oh, yeah!" she chuckled nervously. "I, uh, sorry for what she did to you back there?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's not like you had anything to do with it anyway." He held out a hand. "Name's Leon."

"Lilly!" she said as she accepted the handshake.

"Huh. We're two Ls. That's gonna get confusing. How 'bout I call you White Rose?"

She reddened. "Well, I mean, I think lilies are cuter."

"Yeah, but roses are prettier."

Her face warmed up even more. "I, uh, I guess it's better than Machinegun Lilly."

He chuckled. "Wait, that's your nickname?"

"It's the one Ingrid gave me."

"What? Why?"

"Probably cuz of word vomit."

"Oh, I see. You're that type, huh?"

She nodded quickly. "Guilty. Only when I get really nervous, though, cuz then I can't figure out a way to stop talking and then all of a sudden I just keep going and going and going and—"

He put his hand to her mouth and her eyes opened wide. "I can see now what you mean." He removed his hand. "Just so you know, people are staring at us cuz of your babbling just now."

"Oh. El-oh-el. My bad."

"You're, uh, you're a Schnee, aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"I mean, there's not exactly that many people in the world with super pale complexion and snow-white hair. It's just...I've never met a Schnee in person before and I'm a little...surprised."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're a lot more...energetic than what I expected."

"Oh. Yeah, my mom says I have that problem."

"I see. I like your eyes, by the way. Hazel suits you."

She reddened again. "Um, thanks? Yours are nice, too, b-t-dubs. I like that whole lavender thing. It's pretty."

"Gosh, you sure don't hold back, do you?"

"Nope!"

"Well, if it isn't the Pretty Red Rose," Ingrid said as she passed by them.

"Oh, hi, Ingrid!" Lilly said with a wave.

"Yeah, hi, Ingrid!" Leon said with similar mock excitement.

"Oh, jeez," Ingrid said. "I feel like my head's gonna explode."

"In that case, I'm definitely gonna have to keep buggin' you."

"Please don't."

"Never. This is my revenge for earlier. I almost scratched my beautiful nose when I fell. Good thing I have...cat-like reflexes."

Ingrid's face instantly went sour, her cat ears flattening.

"Eh? Ehh?"

"That was actually pretty terrible."

"I thought it was funny!" Lilly said.

Leon high-fived her.

"I'm gonna go over here now," Ingrid said, taking one large step to the side to put two bodies' worth of distance between her and them.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a staff member said as she stepped to the middle of the stage. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, Assistant Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Please take your seats. Today's agenda can be found on the backrest of the seat in front of you. For the front row, it will be on your seats. Try not to sit on them. Orientation will take place throughout today and tomorrow will be your official initiation."

"Oooh, we're gonna have a tour!" Lilly said, sitting between Ingrid and Leon.

"You really are excited about all of this, aren't you?" Leon said.

"More nervous than anything. It's a terrible habit. When I get nervous I just can't—"

"Can't stop talking," Ingrid finished. "Yeah, we get it, Machinegun Lilly."

"Sorry," Lilly said, shrinking in her seat.

"Good morning," a staff member said as he headed to the podium. "I am Professor Oscar Pine, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of you to Beacon. Although I hold the other academies, Shade, Haven, and Atlas, in very high regard, I must admit that I do take particular pride in this academy, from which some of the greatest Huntsmen and Huntresses the world has ever known attended and graduated. You might even know some of these names as belonging to the ones who saved our world a little under twenty years ago."

"Oh, that's right!" Lilly whispered. "The heroes of the last war came from here!"

"I think some of them came from Mistral and Vacuo, too," Leon said.

"Yeah, but they all attended here! Okay, now I'm starting to get less nervous and a little more excited!"

"Is that a good thing?" Ingrid said dryly.

"It should go without saying," Oscar continued, "that I have very high expectations of you, all of you. Some of you may even have what it takes to qualify for our elite Knight Division."

Lilly flipped through the pamphlet. This was the first time she'd heard of the Knight Division. None of this information was included in the web searches she did over the past couple of weeks. Then again, she was probably the least prepared out of everyone in this room right now.

"Knight Division," she mumbled as she read the entry in the pamphlet. "The most elite of the elites. Post-graduate program which only accepts four students at the end of each school year. The most rigorous combat training available throughout all of Remnant. Crazy."

"Again, I would like to welcome all of you to Beacon Academy," Oscar finished. "You've all gotten in either through your own merits or through recommendations. This alone makes you among the top potential candidates."

Lilly looked around in excitement as a number of senior students and staff members broke them off into groups for the tour. She spotted a peculiar looking student among one of the other groups. Judging from his face, she figured he was from Mistral, but it was his eyes that captivated her. They were jade in color.

"You checkin' out Mr. Pink Highlights over there?" Ingrid said to her.

"Huh?" Lilly said before shaking herself out of her daze. "Oh. I thought they were magenta."

"Pink, magenta, what's the difference?"

"One's lighter than the other?"

"Psh. Okay, Lilly, you win."

"I...wasn't trying to win..."

"Oh, my goodness, you're not sad, are you?"

She shook her head without a word.

"Look what you did, Ingrid," Leon said, wrapping an arm around Lilly's shoulders, making her turn bright red. "You're always hurting other people's feelings. Don't worry, Lilly, I'll keep you safe from the grumpy cat over there."

"Thanks?" Lilly said timidly, the urge to break away from him overpowering every other emotion right now.

"Okay," Ingrid said, peeling her away from Leon and standing between them. "You are creeping the new girl out."

"You're talking as if you aren't a first-year yourself," Leon said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Thank you," Lilly whispered to Ingrid.

"I gotchu," Ingrid whispered back.

"Hello, everyone!" said a girl with auburn hair and emerald green eyes. Even with flat shoes, she stood much taller than the five-foot, three-inch-tall Lilly, probably a whole half-foot taller, just two inches shorter than Leon, who stood an inch shy of six feet. "My name's Penny and I'll be your tour guide today!"

"Whoa," Leon mumbled. "She's kinda hot."

"You think every girl is hot," Ingrid said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "Lilly, I hope he doesn't creep you out."

"I can handle any Grimm!" Lilly said victoriously, to which Ingrid started laughing.

"Did you just call me a Grimm?" Leon said in disbelief.

"N-No, not you—"

"You're a Grimm now, Leon," Ingrid said.

"Psh," he said. "Well, that's fine. But I will have you know that I am the most beautiful Grimm you will ever come across."

Lilly giggled. "Well, yeah, I guess you _are_ pretty," she said.

"See, Ingrid? Finally, a girl who sees my true beauty."

"Oh, jeez," Ingrid said.

"Now, if you would all follow me," Penny said to her tour group, leading them out of the main hall to the central courtyard. "This is the quad, where all of the quadrants meet. This is a pretty popular lunch spot if you're not into the whole cafeteria life, but it's also one of my personal favorite spots to hang out, mainly because of this."

The group stopped at an artificial pond, which surrounded a statue atop a pedestal in the very center. The statue and its foundation were made of pure marble, depicting a knight in polished armor, helmet covering the face, hands resting on the hilt of a sword thrust into the ground. The statue faced away from the CCTS Tower, toward the front entrance of the school.

"What's so special about this statue?" Leon said.

"It's a representation of all the heroes that fell during the Labyrinth War," Penny said. "The helmet's visor is down to symbolize the countless soldiers who fought for humanity."

Lilly watched as their tour guide's face took on a nostalgic look, as though the statue meant more to her than just a mere symbol of the faceless. She figured she'd ask her about it some other time. After all, she looked like a senior student. She'd probably run into her at least once during her stay here.

"You all know about the Cross Continental Transmit System right?" Penny continued the tour, stopping the group at the base of Beacon's tower.

"The series of towers throughout the world that permit global communication," said a boy of average height with dark brown hair and glasses. "Each capital has a main tower with smaller towers spread throughout."

"That's right, uh..."

"Xanthus."

"Thank you, Xanthus. He is absolutely correct. Beacon Academy is home to one of the primary CCTS towers. The other towers are located in Atlas Academy, Shade Academy, Haven Academy, and Menagerie. Back in the old days, when there were only four towers, each one had to be online in order for the entire network to be active, which meant that maintenance on any one tower would bring down global communication."

"They took down this tower in the last war, didn't they?" another student asked.

"Right. In the early stages of the Labyrinth War, Beacon Academy was actually overrun and nearly completely destroyed. The tower was rendered inoperable and global communication ceased, enabling the forces of darkness to run rampant everywhere. But it was thanks to a number of heroes, along with all of the men and women who volunteered for the Coalition, that this tower was restored and Beacon Academy rebuilt to its current splendor and glory."

"That was when Atlas joined the Coalition, right?" the same student asked.

"Correct. As soon as word got out across the kingdoms that Vale had been liberated, trust between the countries was reestablished and the Coalition came together like never before, eventually bringing the fight to Salem herself and taking her down for good."

"But the Grimm are still everywhere," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"That's been a part of human history since the dawn of time."

"So much for defeating the darkness," Leon mumbled.

"If you all turn to the north," Penny said, directing the group, "you'll see the lecture halls. In the east wing, closest to the CCTS tower, are the library and study halls. The central and west wings are classrooms. Each of the buildings is reinforced to withstand the rigors of combat, particularly the west wing, where your main combat classes will take place."

"Combat?" a female student asked.

"That's right. Some of your courses may have you do battle right within your own classroom."

A combination of excited and nervous murmurs arose from the group.

"You all went to combat school, didn't you?" Penny said. "I mean, most of you should have."

"Yeah," a student said, "but we never actually fought in the classrooms!"

"That's what separates primary combat school from the Huntsman Academy. Here, you will be applying everything you've learned to the real thing. You will be fighting real Grimm."

"R-Real monsters?"

She nodded with a smirk. "You will be on the path to being heroes."

"Wait," Lilly mumbled, "I don't remember reading anything about fighting actual Grimm."

"That's kinda the point of the Academies?" Ingrid said. "I mean, literally this is where you go to become a Huntsman."

Lilly scratched her head. "Mom never told me about this."

"Beyond the quad is the south quadrant," Penny continued the tour. "That's where you'll be doing most of your non-academic stuff. The west wing of this section is where you'll find all of your campus life needs, thrift stores, restaurants, all that stuff. The dorms themselves are in the east wing, closest to the tower, with the itty bitty school mess hall between the dorms and the commercial area."

"Is there a gym?" a muscular student asked.

Penny chuckled. "The main gym is in this same section, behind the school cafeteria. You can't see it from the quad, but yeah, there's a gym back there. Complete with everything you might need, including an outdoor track and field. The training halls are to the very north, behind the lecture buildings. As first-year students, you won't be using these halls."

"Why not?" Xanthus asked.

"It's a bit more rigorous than what you'll be doing for your first two semesters here. Oh, we also have an amphitheater. Did you all see it?"

"That was that section we passed by in the back of the administration building, right?" Leon said.

"Right," Penny said. "The main hall of the west quadrant, where we were all gathered just now, was adjacent to the outdoor amphitheater. Most concerts are held outdoors while most plays and other cool stuff are done in the main hall."

"Concerts?" Lilly said. "You mean, like, rock concerts and stuff?"

"Mm-hmm," Penny said with a smile. "You all know the name Hollie Lyon, right?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Leon said. "She's only, like, the biggest rock star in all of Remnant. _And_ she's Headmaster of Haven Academy."

"That's her."

"Seriously, though, how does she fit all that into her schedule?"

"Well, the Headmaster doesn't really have all that many responsibilities other than scouting out promising talent for the Knight Program and ensuring adherence to the curriculum."

"So, we won't be seeing Headmaster Pine very much?" Xanthus asked.

"Our Headmaster is much different from the other Academies' Headmasters. Oscar Pine is very hands-on compared to the others. In fact, he will be overseeing your initiation tomorrow personally."

"Whoa," a few students said.

"Anyway, lunch should be ready for all of you in the mess hall. We'll continue the tour of the insides of the buildings when you're all finished. Enjoy!"

"You won't be joining us?" Lilly asked her as the rest of the tour group left for the cafeteria.

"Nope. I gotta take care of faculty business."

"F-Faculty?" Leon said, mouth hanging open.

"You sound surprised," Penny said with a smile. "Do I look that young to you?"

"W-Well, I mean—"

"He thinks you're hot," Ingrid said flatly.

He turned bright red. "Stop putting words in my mouth, Ingrid!"

"Your words literally were, 'Whoa, she's kinda hot'."

He wanted to fire back, but there was so much blood in his brain by now that he couldn't think straight.

Penny, on the other hand, couldn't help but giggle. "I'm flattered. You're pretty cute yourself."

Leon was reduced to an incoherent mess, random strings of vowels and consonants slipping out of his mouth.

"You broke him," Lilly said, poking Leon to try and elicit a response to no avail.

Penny laughed. "Okay, you guys don't wanna miss your lunch. I'll come pick up your group in an hour, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the trio saluted.


	2. Chapter II

CHAPTER II

 _Home, Sweet Home_

Lilly still wasn't used to cafeteria food. She looked down at her tray as she proceeded through the line with Leon and Ingrid, who didn't seem to mind the odd-looking organic matter on their own trays.

"Hey," Lilly said, leaning over to Ingrid, "what is this?"

"You've never had mashed potatoes?" Ingrid said.

"I-I mean, I have, but this is..."

Leon snagged a big scoop off her tray.

"Hey!" Lilly whined.

"Sounds like you don't want it," he said.

"Gimme back my mashed potatoes!"

"Fine, fine," he said, returning some to her.

"You took more than that!"

Ingrid reached into the buffet platter and put more mash on both their trays. "Are you two happy?" she said to them.

Leon smiled at Lilly and the latter stuck her tongue out at him.

"I didn't know Schnees dressed so casually, by the way," Ingrid said. "I thought I should point that out."

"Shorts and a t-shirt don't look good on me?" Lilly said with a sad face.

"Oh, my god, could you stop doing that sad face thing? It makes _me_ sad!"

"I think it looks great on you," Leon said.

"Yay!" Lilly said. "Don't think I'm gonna forgive you for stealing my food, though."

He chuckled.

"I'm guessing red and black are your favorite colors?"

He gave her a dry look.

"I mean, red and black jacket, black jeans, red and black shoes, red and black shirt. Hey, your black hair even has red tips!"

"Lilly," Ingrid said. "I can't decide now between Machinegun Lilly and Captain Obvious."

She giggled. "Hey, our colors are a thing! I'm all white and blue, Leon's red and black, and you're black and indigo!"

"Yeah, we're a thing," Ingrid said.

"Hey, little bro," a voice said from behind them as they left the buffet line.

Leon sighed heavily before turning around. "You're literally two minutes older than me, Athena," he said.

"I know. And already you're sweeping up two girls off their feet. He's not giving you a hard time, is he, Ingrid?"

"Of course he is," Ingrid said.

"I thought so. And who's this cute little thing you two picked up?"

"I'm Lilly!" she greeted.

Athena smiled as they shook hands. Lilly admired her strong physique and her long, golden blonde hair which was kept tied in a high ponytail. Her midnight blue eyes exuded a level of mystery and depth. She towered over Lilly, standing only an inch shorter than Leon. And she wasn't even wearing heels.

 _So many tall girls here,_ Lilly thought as Athena's powerful grip practically crushed her fingers. _And scary_.

"You're a Schnee, huh?" Athena asked her.

"Yup!" Lilly said.

"With hazel eyes. Huh. Okay. Well, I'm gonna go sit with my friends. I'll see you bitches later."

"Later, Athena," Ingrid said.

"That's your sister?" Lilly said to Leon.

"We're twins," Leon said with a sigh. "Literally two minutes apart."

"Does she wear that armor everywhere she goes?"

"Pretty much."

"It's probably for show, though," Ingrid said.

"For show?" Lilly said.

"Yeah. She's got one of the strongest auras for a seventeen-year-old. I've seen her tank a friggin' Boarbatusk charge head on and then beat it to death."

Lilly chuckled, but she wasn't exactly sure what a Boarbatusk was. Obviously it was a type of Grimm, but she had no clue which one exactly.

"We should probably eat already before our tour guide comes to get us," Ingrid said, leading the way.

Lilly looked at a boy sitting at a table. He was alone, but he didn't seem lonely, at least, not to her. She stopped for a second, glancing at Leon and Ingrid, who didn't notice they were down a person. She looked over at the boy again. It was that same guy she had spotted in the main hall, the one with black hair and magenta highlights with those captivating jade-colored eyes. She glanced over at her two friends again before deciding to join the lone boy, sitting across the table.

"Hi!" she said.

He looked up at her briefly before continuing to eat.

"My name's Lilly!"

He didn't answer, giving her a single nod as he ate. She pushed the awkwardness aside and started eating as well. The mashed potatoes weren't bad after all. It was the meat that was terrible. Ostensibly, it was known as steak, but from what Lilly could tell, it was no different from eating a frozen hamburger patty that someone had thrown into the microwave for thirty seconds before dumping a blasphemous amount of gravy on it. She sighed, drinking her soda as she reminisced on life back at home with her mom. Nothing beat her cooking. Homemade was the best.

 _Home,_ she thought about what she was leaving behind.

Before she could dwell on it any further, she was lifted out of her seat.

"Hey, sorry if our crazy friend here was bugging you," Ingrid said, leading a confused Lilly away.

The lone boy replied with a shrug.

"She didn't just assault you with a million words per minute, did she?" Leon said, picking Lilly's tray up off the table.

He shook his head.

"Okay. Just checkin'. See ya around, dude."

Ingrid gave the boy a second glance as she dragged Lilly away. His jade eyes were really something. She swore she saw him crack a smile at her before she continued off with her friends.

"Do you guys know him or something?" Lilly asked the two.

"Never seen him before," Leon said as they sat at another table.

"We just don't know if anyone else here has the tolerance levels we do," Ingrid said. "We can't have you starting fights everywhere you go, you know."

"But I wasn't even trying to pick a fight," Lilly said.

"You never know how people are gonna react."

She mused on it before shrugging and eating. They only had fifteen minutes to eat. Penny came in to get them right on time. The next stop was the CCTS Tower, where they were free to roam around the base and look at all the different displays showing information about the global communication network.

The Cross Continental Transmit System, or CCTS, was created as a way of establishing global communication between the four kingdoms. An orbital satellite system was abandoned due to Dust losing its properties at a certain altitude. For the longest time, smaller towers across the world would regularly be assaulted and destroyed by Grimm, but with the end of the Labyrinth War and the decimation of the Grimm population, world communication remained stable.

Menagerie also had its own CCTS Tower installed, right at the heart of the main settlement, thus alleviating the need to have all of the primary towers active at once. Trust between the Faunus and the human population reached unprecedented levels thanks to the Coalition victory against Salem eighteen years ago. Unfortunately, many hatreds run so deep that only time can heal such wounds. Nevertheless, tolerance and unity were common themes nowadays. A number of humans lived among the Faunus in Menagerie, some even intermarrying. Likewise, Vacuo was no longer the only kingdom that welcomed the Faunus with open arms.

Naturally, it was Vale that pioneered the integration between the two races, with Mistral not far behind. Only Atlas remained xenophobic. Lilly found it strange that the place she grew up in was so different from the rest of her country. She hadn't really paid much attention to the rest of the world outside of her home town, the only place in all of Atlas that never saw snow. It wasn't until this past year, when it became clear that she would be going to Beacon Academy, that she started surfing the web for all sorts of information about Remnant.

"Find something interesting?"

Lilly gasped, turning to her right. It was that boy, Xanthus, the smart one with the glasses and dark brown hair and... "Blue and red eyes?" she said, staring with her mouth open.

"Heterochromia," he said. "Red left and blue right."

"That's...so cool..."

He smiled. "Most people find it creepy or weird."

"Well, I think it's cool!"

"So, you usually notice people's eyes first?"

"Depends. On if they're cool or not."

He chuckled. "So, what's _not_ cool eye color?"

She shrugged. "Normal ones, I guess. Like brown. I mean, it's literally a warm color cuz you know how browns and oranges are called warm while blues and greens are usually called cool and I dunno why but yeah that's just how it is it doesn't make sense either although I guess it does since red is like fire and blue is like ice—"

"You're forgetting the commas and periods in your sentences, by the way."

She gasped. "Sorry! I tend to babble when I get nervous!"

"I apologize. I didn't mean to make you nervous." He held out a hand. "Xanthus."

"I'm Lilly!" she said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you. So, what school did you go to before coming here?"

"Uh, high school?"

"Yeah. What school?"

"It was...some school in Atlas."

"Atlas Primary Combat School, then?"

She didn't answer.

"Then, an obscure combat school in Atlas somewhere? That's odd. Mostly everything in that country is heavily regimented."

"What about you?" she said, eager to move on. "What school did you go to?"

"Sanctum, of course."

"Oh, cool." She didn't know where Sanctum was or what that even meant.

"So, why Beacon? Atlas Academy is much closer to your home."

"I know, but my mom went here, so she wanted me to go here, too."

"Ah, I see. Your mother wouldn't happen to be Winter Schnee, would she? Commander of the Atlas Special Forces?"

She shook her head. Leon quickly joined her, having noticed her discomfort about the topic long ago.

"Did you say you're from Sanctum?" Leon said.

"Oh, yeah, did you go there, too?" Xanthus asked as he pushed up his glasses. "I'm Xanthus, by the way."

"Leon." They shook hands. "I went to Signal."

"Ah, so you didn't go far from home at all."

"Yup. Hell, I grew up on Patch."

"Is that right?"

"Mm-hmm." He turned to Lilly. "Tour group's moving soon, by the way."

"Ah, yes," Xanthus said. "I'll see you both later, then, hmm?"

"Sure."

They watched as Xanthus went back to his group of friends.

"Thank you so much," Lilly said, throwing her arms around Leon.

He chuckled. "It looked like you were having some trouble," he said. "And I just happen to have a thing for damsels-in-distress."

"Well, I _am_ a damsel, and I _was_ in distress."

"Anytime."

They rejoined Ingrid, who was comparing weapons with someone else in the group.

"Really, though?" the girl said. "It's just a stick?"

"Just a stick," Ingrid said flatly.

"I mean, why?"

"Why not?"

"Well, I guess."

"Hey, hey," Lilly said, pointing to Leon's weapon. "Yours is a sword, right?"

He pulled his weapon from behind his back. "Right now it is," he said.

Her eyes opened wide. "What does that mean? Huh? Huh?"

"Don't you do it, Leon," Ingrid said. "You remember what happened the last time you deployed that thing indoors."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, stowing it away again.

"Oooh!" Lilly said, clenching her fists in front of her chin. "Now I wanna see!"

Penny continued the tour to the top of the tower, where they'd be able to make international calls to their loved ones. Lilly made note of this place. She'd call her mom the moment she had free time.

The next stop on the tour was the north quadrant, where the classrooms, library, study halls, and training halls were located. Everything was as Lilly expected it to be. They passed by a number of upperclassmen walking through the corridor. Lilly couldn't help her astonishment at their armor and weaponry.

"I've never seen gear like that before," Lilly said, looking back as the students left them behind.

"Not surprised," Xanthus said, joining the trio. "Atlas tech is much different from Hillphire tech."

"Hillphire?"

"You know, the company that basically supplied the entire Coalition?"

"He's the guy that makes all the powered armor," Ingrid said.

"P-Powered? Armor?" Lilly said.

"You really have been cooped up in Atlas your whole life, huh?" Leon said.

"I told you that already!" she said, stamping her foot on the ground.

"You should've at least heard about them," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses, "in combat school anyway."

She didn't answer.

"I'm guessing Atlas schools don't like to advertise non-Atlas tech to their students," Leon said, getting Lilly out of her hole.

"That makes sense. Your unnamed school must have been pretty orthodox, then."

The final stop of the tour was the south quadrant. They started at the west wing, the student life center, where a whole mass of students were currently gathered, most of them lounging around, others studying in groups, while some were having late lunches or early dinners. Lilly noted a coffee shop. She'd have to try that place out at least once, just to see if it could match her mother's coffee.

"You wanna grab a drink later?" Leon asked her.

"Hmm?" she said.

"You're checkin' out that café."

"And _you_ are checking out _her_ ," Ingrid said.

"What? I just noticed her eyeing the place!"

"Yeah, you can't take your eyes off her."

Lilly couldn't help but giggle. "We could all grab a drink later," she said. "Ingrid, do you drink coffee?"

"I'm gonna have to start just so I can protect you from _him_ ," Ingrid said, giving Leon a nasty look.

"What?" he said. "Why?"

"Because you are going to corrupt our pure white flower and I'm not gonna let that happen."

Lilly covered her mouth as she laughed. "Oh, the group's moving!"

The gym was next on the agenda. Just as Penny had said, it was on the other side of the school cafeteria. In addition to the gym building was the track and field, where students could keep up their physical fitness. There were a few out here, but from what Lilly could tell, most of them were lounging at the student life center. It was probably a more strenuous workout to be fighting Grimm all day long.

As they passed by another tour group, Lilly noticed a straggler, a girl her height and build, dark brown hair tied up in a low ponytail. She carried a longbow hung from her back. She seemed to intentionally keep her distance from the rest of her tour group. Lilly made brief eye contact with her before their groups went separate ways.

Leon yawned. "Man, I can't wait to go to bed," he said.

"The sun hasn't even completely set yet," Ingrid said. "Oh, wait, I forgot, your dumbass is always sleeping late. That's what you get."

"Whatever, grumpy cat."

She growled.

Lilly couldn't help but giggle. "You guys are funny," she said.

"And here are the dorms," Penny said as they came to the conclusion of the tour. "Your belongings should all be at the check-in counter. Just go over there, show them the IDs you were issued at the admin building, and they'll get you your stuff. Also, I dunno how it is back where you guys are all from, but here at Beacon, first-year students all spend the very first night down on the bottom floor in the common room. Mats are already set up for you guys, so pick your corners quick before all the good spots are taken."

"Wait, we're all gonna be together?" Leon said. "As in, boys and girls all in one big room?"

"Why, are you shy?"

He shrugged with a smirk. "I mean, I can be pretty shy."

Penny chuckled, pushing a lock of auburn hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. "Smooth, Leon. Y'all got a lady-killer among you."

He beamed, his teeth glistening in the light above.

"Oh, brother," Ingrid said with an eye-roll.

"At least he's not literally your brother," Athena said, passing by to be the first to the check-in counter.

Lilly once again could not help but admire the power and authority in each stride Athena took. She tried to straighten her own body up to match her strong posture, but it only ended up looking really awkward.

"What are you doing?" Ingrid asked her.

"Huh?" Lilly said, quickly returning to normal. "Oh, n-nothing."

Ingrid stared at her before chuckling. "Okay."

They all went to grab their belongings from the check-in counter before heading into the large common room. There was plenty of space for all one hundred first-year applicants to huddle in groups or pair off or fly solo.

"Oh, in case you all haven't figured it out," Penny said to the group, "this is your chance to get to know each other. Tomorrow's your initiation and you'll want to know who you work with best. Figure out each other's names, strengths, weaknesses, Semblances if not unknown, and anything else. Just giving you guys a heads-up for tomorrow! I'll see y'all around!"

Lilly waved to her and she waved back.

"So, then," Leon said, sidling over to Lilly. "I hear there's a quiet corner in the big room where we won't be disturbed.

"Okay!" Ingrid and Athena said simultaneously as they both took Lilly by either arm.

"You are not allowed near the girls' corner!" Athena said.

"What she said!" Ingrid said.

"You guys suck," Leon said.

"You need a partner?" Xanthus said, approaching the group. "Since it seems males are not welcome in their section of the room."

"Yeah," Leon said to him as they bumped fists. "Let's go build our own tree house with a sign that says 'no girls allowed!' in big, red ink."

Ingrid stuck her tongue out at him before they split up.

"You guys keep saving my life," Lilly said, fanning her face.

"I just feel bad for the next girl he sets his sights on," Athena said.

"Is he always like that?"

"Most of the time."

"Hell, he still does it with me," Ingrid said. "I'm just immune to it now, that's all."

"If I wasn't his sister," Athena said, "I don't doubt he would've already targeted me, too."

"He already went after faculty."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. Our tour guide."

Athena laughed. "Well, I mean she _was_ pretty."

"Yeah, true."

As the trio settled into their corner of the room, Lilly eyed that same girl again that they had passed by on their way to the gym. She was off in an isolated section, as far away as physically possible from every other human being in the room. She was scribbling into a notebook. At least, that's what Lilly figured. When she left her group to go and join her, she realized from the movements of her pencil that she was drawing, not writing.

"Whatcha doin'?" Lilly asked, sliding down the wall to sit beside the girl, who immediately shut her notebook and stuffed it into her backpack before pulling out a book to read. When she didn't reply, Lilly held out a hand to her. "I'm Lilly."

The girl looked at her for a bit, glancing down at her hand. She tentatively reached and they shook. Lilly couldn't help but give her a big smile.

"Echo," the girl said quietly.

"Echo? That's a cool name. Whatcha readin'?"

"A book about exploring ancient ruins."

"Cool."

There was silence between them for a bit. Echo nervously moved a few inches away from Lilly.

"I, uh," Lilly began, "I just wanted to say that you could come join us if you want. You don't have to be by yourself over here."

She didn't answer.

"I mean you don't have to if you don't wanna I just thought I should ask cuz you looked a little lonely sitting here all by yourself but then again you probably picked this spot to get away from everybody and I'm here in your space and all that so I'm just gonna get up and go so I don't intrude on you, 'kay?"

She stood up before walking away for a little bit, turning around to face her again. Echo was hiding behind her book, her light greenish, hazel eyes just barely peeking over to see Lilly's own light brown hazels.

"Uh, sorry again!" Lilly said, hastening back to her group and sitting on her mat.

"What was that all about?" Ingrid asked her.

"Me being stupid and awkward," Lilly said with a heavy sigh, pulling her knees in.

"You seem to like making friends with all the loners," Athena said. "I saw you sit with that boy from Mistral back in the cafeteria."

"I-I mean, it's not like I'm targeting them or anything. She just seemed lonely, that's all."

"Nothing wrong with that. Just remember that there's such a thing as a personal bubble," she chuckled. "Right, Ingrid?"

"Yeah, that's something your brother needs to learn, too," she said.

"Yeah, seriously." She turned to Lilly. "So, Snow Princess."

"Snow Princess?" Lilly said.

"Yeah. You're a Schnee, aren't you?"

"I am, but where I lived we never had any snow."

"Wait, what?" both Athena and Ingrid said as they rolled themselves to face her.

"How?" Athena said. "I mean, all of Solitas is covered in ice and tundra. How did you not have snow? Were you on an island off the coast or something?"

"No. I lived in a town on the mainland."

"At the southernmost tip of the continent?" Ingrid said.

She shook her head. "The town I grow up in was only a two hour drive from the capital."

"But the capital is locked in ice. How the hell did you never see snow?"

She shrugged.

"Wait," Athena said. "I think I've heard about this place. Was it a town called Oasis?"

"Yup, that's my hometown."

"Whoa. So you're actually from there, huh?"

"This is my first time hearing about this," Ingrid said.

"Oasis is a town in Atlas that never sees snow or ice," Athena said. "In fact, it's the only place where temperate plants and animals grow and thrive."

"That's where my name comes from," Lilly said. "There's a river not too far from my house where water lilies were really abundant. It was said to be the only place they could grow on Solitas."

"Yeah, cuz water lilies would die in the cold, let alone when the water stops being water and starts being ice. Still, that's crazy that you would be from there."

"How does it stay like that, though?" Ingrid asked.

"Nobody knows," Athena said. "Supposedly it only started, like, twenty years ago or something. But no one can figure out why the heck it's like that. It's pretty much a huge patch of land about fifty miles wide where the weather is warmer than everywhere else. Anyway, we should probably get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."

"Good night," Ingrid said.

"Night," Lilly said.

Tonight wouldn't be very restful for her, though. A lot of things came up that bothered her more than anything, particularly the fact that she seemed to be the only one who did not come from a combat school. How had she been accepted to such a prestigious academy, then?


	3. Chapter III

CHAPTER III

 _Meat for the Grinder_

"Good morning," Headmaster Oscar Pine greeted the first-year students as they gathered at the top of a cliff before sunrise. Assistant Headmaster Glynda Goodwitch was with him. "Today marks your first day as students of Beacon Academy. This initiation will determine who has what it takes to be a protector of the light and who does not. There are a hundred of you standing here right now. Statistically speaking, half of you will not make it through this first phase. You all remember the waivers you and your parents filled out? Well, that was so that the Academy cannot be held liable should you die during your stay here."

Some of the murmurs were nervous. Others were excited.

"Needless to say, I wouldn't want any of you dying out there. Do make it out alive. If you find yourself in a situation where your opponent is too great to challenge, do not rush in blindly. Assess and strategize, and do not be afraid to retreat and get help if needed. You will be scored not only on your combat abilities, but also in your judgment and tactical thinking."

"Your objective today," Glynda began, "is to secure the artifacts located throughout the Emerald Forest ruins. You are expected to work as a team."

Leon raised his hand. "Who exactly are our teammates?"

"All of you are one team," Oscar said. "However, the first person you make eye contact with upon landing is your training partner for the remainder of your courses here at Beacon. I hope you all got to know each other well last night. Your partnership will last all four years."

"You mentioned landing?" Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "How do you expect us to do so?"

Oscar smiled. "Use your creativity."

"Oh, hell yeah," Leon said.

Everyone readied themselves for the springboards to launch them. Lilly wasn't the only nervous one, but she figured she was the most nervous. She had no idea what in the world she was going to do. Landing? After flying? She would have packed a parachute if she knew this was going to be the first exam!

"Try not to die, little brother," Athena said.

"Try not to break a nail, sis," Leon said.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Ingrid said to Lilly, who was visibly shaking.

"Y-Yeah," she said. "I'm g-good."

"Hey. I believe in you."

Lilly looked over at her friend. Beyond her, students were already being launched one by one. Athena was next, followed by Leon. Ingrid would launch seconds later. The last one remaining was Lilly.

"Miss Schnee," Oscar said.

She turned to him.

"I believe in you as well."

She managed a small smile before turning back to the front. The force of the springboard launching her into the sky made her dizzy. Everyone else now in flight seemed to be enjoying themselves, but not her. She had never flown before, at least not with the power of her own body, which was not exactly correct because it wasn't her body at all that gave her flight. How she would control her movements, let alone the landing, was a complete mystery to her.

 _Crap, crap, crap, crap,_ she thought. _What do I do?_

She reached for Myrtenaster without a clue as to what to even do with it. Her mother never showed her how to use it. She just handed it to her the day she left Atlas and off she went. She glanced around. Other students were using whatever they had at their disposal to slow their descent, some even redirecting their movements in midair using the recoil of their weapons.

At the very least, she knew that her weapon was capable of projecting some kind of Dust power, but specifically what, she didn't know. She was familiar with some of the basics, like red for Fire, white for Air, blue for Ice, yellow for Lightning, brown for Earth, and black for—

"Gravity!" she said, switching the revolving cylinder to the black-colored module and pulling the trigger. The blade turned black and started to emit a dark purple light. She felt the weapon lighten and begin to float. No, it wasn't floating. She was falling. Faster than her weapon was falling.

"Crap!" she said aloud as she nearly lost her grip on Myrtenaster. She was holding on to it for dear life now, but her descent started to gain speed. Thinking quickly, she pulled the trigger again and the weapon's gravity decreased once more. She repeated this process, using Myrtenaster as a parachute, stumbling as she landed in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. She panted, dropping her weapon and stooping over.

"I'm alive!" she said, throwing her arms up in triumph.

—

Ingrid used her staff's built-in firearm capability to direct her movements in midair. Both ends of her staff were loaded with Explosive Dust today in anticipation of this test. The recoil afforded by each shot was enough to change her direction while in flight. Landing was a breeze. She was up in a tree, surveying her surroundings when she spotted Lilly awkwardly floating around, hanging on to her weapon for dear life. After determining her trajectory, Ingrid dashed in her direction.

—

"Woohoo!" Leon shouted as he used his own sword-gun hybrid weapon to direct his movements in the air, but he had another trick up his sleeve, one that made this landing easier for him than for anyone else. Of course, he wasn't going to show off that ace in the hole just yet. For sure there were others watching him right now, some already on the ground observing everyone else while others were still in the air.

He wouldn't use his Semblance to land today. He would use pure technique and finesse. Of course, there was Athena flying by, using her shield as a makeshift surfboard.

"You showoff!" he yelled to her.

She stood up straight, giving him a mock salute before making her own landing some distance away.

"Oh, an Ursa!" Leon said as he brought his sword up for battle. He fired his gun once to make a minor trajectory adjustment before swinging down as hard as he could, cleaving the giant monster in half.

"That was awesome," he said, standing up and dusting himself off. He turned around to face another Grimm he sensed was approaching, but before he could engage, someone had already stabbed it through the chest. When the Alpha Beowolf disappeared, he looked at his new ally, his lavender eyes making direct contact with jades.

"Hey, you're that guy Lilly was bugging at lunch yesterday," Leon said, walking up to him. "You partner up yet?"

He shook his head.

"I guess it's you and me, then." He held out a hand. "Leon."

"Yuan."

—

Athena landed more gracefully than anyone else thanks to the power of her Semblance. She pulled her shield back up with her left hand, spear ready for battle in her right. She looked around. Of course it would be just her luck to land right in the middle of a large pack of Beowolves.

"Twenty-four of you, huh?" she said, glancing around. "I guess this is my handicap for being the best of this class."

Three roared before dashing at her, but she made quick work of them. Her speed and technique, coupled with her raw strength and perfect form with her spear and shield made this fight far too easy.

"C'mon," she said with a smug grin. "Is that all you've got?"

Two more attacked and she dodged, parried, and stabbed, taking them all down with ease and, most importantly, style. She posed with her spear resting against her shoulder, shield hand on her hip, as the remaining Beowolves circled her.

"If you guys don't wanna die," she began, tossing her golden ponytail over her shoulder, "you could just let me walk away."

One roared at her. She was about to stab it in the throat when an arrow pierced its head from the side. Athena couldn't help but smile as she commenced her own offensive, trusting in her unseen ally's expert aim. Mere minutes and every single Beowolf Grimm was dead and decaying.

Athena looked around to make sure there were no more enemies before walking over to where the arrows last came from. She noticed that the trajectory changed with each salvo. Her ally was skilled. Whoever it was had moved from location to location, probably to keep from being tracked or to get better angles of fire.

"I had a feeling you were in the trees," Athena said, looking up at a girl hiding behind some leaves high up on a branch. Her brown and green clothing enabled her to camouflage almost perfectly.

The girl stood up on her branch, but she quickly grabbed onto another as the branch she had been on snapped. Athena noticed the girl's reflexes. She was good, but her grip on the new branch wasn't perfect and she began to fall. Quick thinking resulted in Athena catching the girl before she hit the ground, not that the fall would have hurt someone who projected an aura.

"You all right?" Athena asked the girl as she let her down onto the carpet of leaves and dirt.

She nodded, captivated by this strong girl's midnight blue eyes.

"I guess we're partners, then, huh? Unless you've already got one lurking around here."

She shook her head.

"All righty, then. Name's Athena."

"Echo."

"Cool name. Hey, wait a minute, you're the girl Lilly was trying to make friends with last night."

She nodded.

"That was some slick bow work, by the way."

There was rustling behind them. Athena noticed that Echo had already been facing the direction of danger even before any sound reached them.

"I guess break time's over!"

—

Lilly found herself surrounded. She recognized none of these Grimm. All she knew was that they were incredibly scary. She couldn't figure out if there were only three types here or three hundred. All she knew was that any number greater than one was too many.

"Ahh!" she yelped as she dodged an attack from one of the Grimm. She managed to roll away before running. Another attack came from the side. Her evasion that time was pure instinct and she was alarmed by her own counterattack, having sliced at its head with Myrtenaster. She looked at her weapon momentarily, stunned by her own skill, before another attacking Grimm woke her up from her reverie.

"Lilly!" a familiar voice sounded before something struck the Grimm hard enough to cave in its skull.

"Whoa!" Lilly said. "Ingrid?"

"You find a partner yet?"

"Yeah! You!"

She smirked. "Let's kick some ass, then."

"B-But, I don't actually know what I'm doing!"

"But you just killed, like, four of them."

"Did I?"

"Yeah. I watched you stab one and slice up two before you slashed at that last one."

Ingrid was right. Lilly had done those things. But how? She had no experience fighting Grimm. She had no experience _fighting_ , period! But something about her mother's weapon in her right hand like this made sense. It was exactly where it belonged.

"Okay, you ready?" Ingrid said.

"Yeah," Lilly said, switching over to Lightning Dust. "I'll zap 'em first."

"Go!"

Lilly pulled the trigger, swinging Myrtenaster at her enemies and projecting bolts of lightning, which had the effect of stunning them in place.

"I'll finish them!" Ingrid said as she struck them hard enough with her staff to kill them with the blunt force alone.

A few more coordinated attacks like that and they were able to exterminate all of the Grimm around them.

"Creeps aren't that bad at all," Ingrid said, meeting up with her partner.

"Yeah, they _are_ kinda creepy," Lilly said, tucking Myrtenaster under her belt.

"No, I'm talking about the Creep Grimm."

"Huh?"

"Those things that look like lizards with only two legs?"

"Oh. Right. Creeps."

Ingrid examined her for a bit. "You...have never seen any of these Grimm before, have you?"

"Grimm never came near Oasis. Whatever it was that kept the snow away, it kept the Grimm away, too. I only ever saw them online, on TV, and in books and stuff, but I never got to know the specific types."

"Hang on a minute. What combat school did you go to?"

"I didn't go to combat school. I went to a regular high school in Oasis."

"Huh? But, how are you here right now? In Beacon, I mean?"

She shrugged.

"You have to have gone to a combat school and scored really high grades and stuff to even be considered for the Huntsman Academies, let alone get accepted into the school year."

"I told you, I don't know. My mom just said for me to get on the shuttle and I did. And now I'm here."

"Huh. So, you didn't go to combat school, and yet you have a weapon, and you can kick ass. What the heck?"

"I'm just as lost as you are, Ingrid."

"Well. Okay, you're keeping this a secret."

"Huh?"

"We can't have anybody know that you got in through a recommendation."

"Through a what?"

"That's the only way you could have gotten into the school without having gone through a primary combat school first. It's either you got a recommendation or you're just so friggin' good at killing Grimm that they overlook your grades."

Lilly drew Myrtenaster again, looking at its ornately designed hilt. _Was it mom?_ she thought.

"I mean, I get that the Schnee Family is well-connected, but—"

"I have nothing to do with the rest of my family," Lilly snapped.

Ingrid didn't respond.

"S-Sorry. I didn't mean to blow up at you like that."

"No big deal. C'mon, let's go after these artifacts already."

—

"We've already made the first cuts," Glynda said to Oscar as she looked through the information on her scroll. "We're down to forty-eight students. The projected final count is thirty-six."

"This year doesn't have very many with the proper skill," Oscar said, drinking from his mug. "But we do have a lot of high-quality students coming in."

"Yes. The twins are especially skilled in combat. That's not surprising considering who their parents are. The same goes with the Faunus girl and the Schnee, and the two from Mistral. Not to mention others of high pedigree. I feel like you're more interested in the odd ones out, though. For instance, that other girl who has no combat school experience."

"Of course. I myself was an 'odd one'. I went from farm boy to Beacon's Headmaster. But before that, I was Beacon's Headmaster."

She chuckled. "To an outsider, that would be quite confusing."

"What's the status on the existing students?"

"Down to forty-four," she said, looking at her scroll. "Forty-two, no, thirty-eight."

"No casualties?"

"Not yet. Recovery teams have managed to get everyone out."

"Good. I was starting to worry about the students."

"You're different from how you used to be, Ozpin."

He drank his hot cocoa. "That's because I am fully integrated with myself. The part of me that was once called Oscar Pine is much more empathic than the part of me once called Ozpin."

"Thirty-two remaining."

"That's not good."

"But it looks like these are solid performers. I don't expect it to go down any more than this. Your predictions have proven to be correct as always. Their auras are still very strong, even Lilly Schnee's."

"That's not surprising at all. You know who her mother is."

"Yes. It's terrible what she's had to go through these last eighteen years, but I suppose it can't be helped. It looks like your star pupils have reached the ruins first."

Oscar pulled out his own scroll to observe the video feed.

—

"Sweet," Leon said, placing the fourth and last of the artifacts, which looked like chess pieces, onto the pedestal in the middle of the circular ruin.

"So, the other groups should have gotten their artifacts to their own ruins, right?" Lilly said.

"Probably. I mean, we all got gold artifacts. There's probably different colors for different ruins and stuff."

"We got the queen piece. So did you guys."

"I've always wanted to be fabulous."

Lilly couldn't help but giggle. She looked around. Among them were Ingrid, Leon, Athena, Echo, Xanthus, Xanthus's partner, and the boy from the cafeteria.

"Do you think this is a good sign?" Xanthus asked Athena as he straightened up his glasses. "We got the knight piece."

She grinned. "I do have aspirations to get into the school's Knight Program," she said. "They only accept four students every year, though, so you guys better not hold me back."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce my new buddy," Leon said, gesturing to his partner. "Everybody, meet Yuan. Yuan, meet everybody."

"Hi, Yuan!" Lilly said, extending a hand out to him with a big smile.

He returned her smile, shaking with her.

"And this is my partner," Xanthus said, "Perseus."

"Hey, everybody," Perseus greeted. "Hailing from Vacuo. Anyone else representing?"

"Signal," Ingrid said.

"Signal," Leon said.

"Signal," Athena said.

"Sanctum," Yuan said.

"Wait," Xanthus said, "you went to Sanctum?"

He nodded.

"I don't remember you from...oh, wait, you're the one with the interesting Semblance."

"Interesting, huh?" Leon said, turning to his partner.

"From what I remember, he can bend his aura."

"Whoa, seriously?"

Yuan shrugged.

"Dammit, I'm the only one from Shade here?" Perseus said, turning to Lilly and Echo, both of whom shrugged.

"I didn't attend any primary combat school," Echo said, shrinking into herself the moment she said those words.

Athena caught her timid body language and instantly went to work. "You must've gotten in through raw skill, then," she said. "And I can see that with your expert bow work."

"Were you a hunter?" Xanthus asked her.

Echo nodded.

"Ah, perfect. You'll make a great team member."

"Hey, hey, don't go trying to change contracts on me, now," Perseus said.

"Of course not. Rules are rules, my friend. Now, go and advertise yourself to everyone."

"Oh, yeah, heh." He whipped out his sword and shield. "My sword doubles as a shotgun, as you can see. My shield doubles as a Dust magazine, which I use basically as an extra Dust reservoir in addition to the rest of my gear."

"What about your Semblance?" Ingrid asked.

"That's a secret," he said with a grin.

"Perseus," Xanthus said, "don't be a jerk."

"Okay, okay. Check it out." He walked up to a rock before punching it with enough strength to break it into countless pieces.

"Whoa," Leon said. "Your Semblance is holy shit level of strength?"

"I dunno if they'll accept that on my declaration," Perseus said with a grin.

Ingrid chuckled. "Holy shit level of strength. That's friggin' great."

"Uhh, guys?" Lilly said as she and Echo looked over to the distance. Something large was approaching them from above.

"Nevermore!" Athena cried out. "Take cover!"


	4. Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV

 _Passing on the Torch_

"It looks like the best of this year's applicants have gathered together," Glynda said as she watched the feed along with Oscar.

"Indeed," the headmaster said as he drank from his mug. "It's no surprise at all given their lineage, but those other three are fascinating as well, don't you think?"

"Yes. Echo is the only other student we accepted without any combat school record, and yet her movements and tactical thinking are off the charts. And then there's Xanthus. He came from Sanctum with Yuan, but he scored much higher than the latter, the very top of his class."

"And we can't forget the one from Vacuo."

"Right. Perseus is the third son of the head of the Jupiter Family. They're not that well-known for their fighting prowess. They're more shrewd entrepreneurs than anything else, but given the money they have at their disposal, it's not unthinkable that they would have put one of their children through rigorous training. There's also that Semblance of his. I've never seen such a level of strength from a seventeen-year-old boy."

"Well, remember that only eighteen years ago, we saw power from similarly aged people that far and away surpassed what we're seeing now."

"Yes, but that was exceptional. Even now she remains a threat to everyone who crosses her, but she hasn't made a public appearance since her daughter was born."

—

"Lilly, look out!" Leon said as he tackled her to the ground, just barely getting her out of harm's way. "Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you," she said, rubbing her hip. "Gosh, did you have to linebacker me to death?"

He chuckled before helping her up.

"Our guns aren't doing any damage to it," Xanthus said.

"We've got more incoming!" Ingrid said as an enormous Ursa Major, larger than any they had ever seen, emerged from the brush.

"Huh," Leon said as they faced off with it. "Things are starting to look...grim."

Lilly giggled.

"Leon, really?" Ingrid said.

"Hey, I thought it was creative," Perseus said.

"Don't give him encouragement!" Athena said.

—

"Are we going to intervene?" Glynda asked Oscar, who was refilling his mug from a thermos.

"And steal away those kids' chance to shine?" he said.

"I thought you were concerned about their safety this time."

"I am. But we won't need to intervene. That would only chip away at their confidence and we can't have that happening so early in their tenure here."

—

"Take this!" Perseus said, attacking the massive Ursa. Despite his incredible strength, the Grimm would not go down. It swiped at him and he barely blocked with his shield, the force of the strike pushing him back several yards.

"Echo!" Athena yelled.

Although this was their first time fighting a coordinated battle together, Echo already could figure out what she was thinking. She ran to her teammate, switching to an orange-Dust-loaded arrow for an explosive attack.

"You got this?" Athena asked her.

Echo gave a nod as she vaulted off of Athena's shield. The latter's strength hurled her high up into the air and she fired off an arrow into the Ursa's head, the explosion knocking it off-balance. She quickly turned her attention to the incoming Nevermore and managed to land on top of it. She quickly transformed her bow into a staff and began striking the massive bird Grimm, but blunt force hits were useless against something this large.

She slung her bow over her chest and reached for her quiver, pulling out two arrows, with which she began stabbing and slashing everywhere she could figure. Sensing danger, she leaped off of the bird, trusting in her teammates' ability to catch her. Just as she jumped, the bird maneuvered itself to try and peck at her, but she had already escaped.

Lilly watched as Echo fell to the earth. She quickly went to work, switching Myrtenaster to Gravity Dust and pulling the trigger as she swung at her companion. The effect was to slow down Echo's descent to non-fatal speeds. Echo gave her a nod and Lilly smiled back before the two continue their ranged assault on the giant Ursa.

"Okay, wild attacks aren't working," Athena said as she formed a triangle with Xanthus and Perseus. "Let's take out these Beowolves while the others have the big one's attention."

"Agreed," Perseus said before dashing at their enemies. "Race you for kill count!"

Athena looked over at Xanthus, who shrugged before moving in to attack also. Unlike the others, Xanthus was a dual-wielder. Both swords were identical in appearance, but each had a different property. Only he could distinguish, based on the weight and balance of the sword, which one was which. One was strictly for blitz attacks while the other was reinforced for powerful strikes. He would use both in tandem for this fight against the horde of Beowolves.

Meanwhile, Ingrid and Yuan stood back to back as they were surrounded by a number of other Grimm. Most were nothing more than weak Creeps, but in such large numbers, they could easily get overwhelming.

"Hey," Ingrid said to her companion. "Got any tricks up your sleeve?"

Yuan aimed his weapon, a double-headed Ji halberd, toward the Grimm. He pressed a button and the weapon projected lightning at a group, stunning them in place. Ingrid wasted no time going to work, smashing through one Grimm after another. Four Beowolves were about to descend on her when she leaped backwards, leaving behind two shadow clones powered by Fire and Earth Dust, pulverizing and incinerating her enemies.

"That was pretty cool," Yuan said to her.

"Oh, you actually talk," she said, aiming her staff to fire at a Creep trying to sneak up on him.

He shrugged.

"Leon!" Lilly said before firing Myrtenaster at an incoming Alpha Beowolf. Her Ice Dust attack froze the monster in place and Leon finished it with a quick swing of his sword.

"I owe you one!" he said with a salute before engaging a number of other Grimm.

At the same time, Athena and Xanthus struggled against the giant Ursa. The Nevermore accosting them from above made this fight even more difficult than it should be.

"This fat tub o' shit needs to die already!" Perseus said, joining them.

Echo landed right behind them as well before Lilly and the others ran to their side. All eight faced off against the massive Ursa, which let out a roar that would have blown anyone else away with the wind force alone.

"Rah, rah, rah, this!" Leon said, shooting his gun to no effect.

The others began firing away as well, goading the beast to attack. The moment it began to move in, they scattered and attacked from all directions at once with a combination of ranged and melee attacks.

Sensing danger from up above, Echo turned her attention to the incoming Nevermore and fired four arrows in quick succession. The first three were loaded with Earth, Ice, and Fire Dust, the resulting cloud of debris disorienting the giant bird. Her final arrow was loaded with Explosive Dust.

 _Let your aim be true,_ she thought to herself as she released the arrow, nailing the Nevermore right on the head. She smiled as it flew away to recover and attempt another attack later. Her job was done. She was able to keep that enemy off of her team while the rest gave the giant Ursa everything they had.

"Take this!" Perseus said, leaping up into the air and forming himself into a human cannonball with his shield as the impact point. The full force of his attack stunned the giant Ursa.

"My turn!" Xanthus said, pulling the triggers on both of his swords before swinging wildly, projecting slash waves powered by Ice and Fire Dust.

"All right, my silent friend, it's our turn!" Leon said to Yuan, who joined him in the attack.

"Lilly, you have any extra Dust on you?" Ingrid said to her companion.

"Huh?" Lilly said. "Oh, yeah." She reached into a pouch and pulled out a vial of orange colored Dust.

"Perfect."

Lilly joined the assault as Ingrid attacked with a shadow clone infused with the orange Dust she had given her. The Ursa was knocked right off its feet by the resulting blast.

"Athena, now!" Leon yelled.

The elder of the twins leaped up high into the air, shield hanging from her back, spear held in both arms. She drove down into the enormous Ursa's skull, getting all the way through until the tip of her spear was in the earth.

"Nice work, warrior princess," Perseus said, leaning his sword on his shoulder as he approached her.

"Wasn't just me," she said. "That took all of us."

"Maybe so, but you made it look easy."

She chuckled.

"Nevermore!" Echo said, aiming at the giant bird Grimm along with Lilly.

"Leon, you ready?" Athena said.

"It's gonna take more than just you and me, though," he said.

"That's what I'm here for!" Perseus said.

"Hah, let's do this!"

Leon stowed his sword and ran at them full force. They grasped him by both of his hands and hurled him at the Nevermore with all their strength. Lilly watched as he soared at their enemy, drawing his sword mid-flight. With the press of a button, it transformed into a giant pole weapon. It was no longer a sword, but a scythe. Lilly couldn't help but gawk as he sliced right through one of the giant bird Grimm's wings, sending it falling to the earth.

He turned around mid-flight. Lilly was awestruck by the finesse with which he had finished off their last enemy. He seemed to be floating back down to the earth, scythe held out to the side in his right hand, hair and jacket blowing in the wind.

Ingrid reached over with her hand to push her chin back up. Lilly shook her head. She hadn't realized her mouth was open. She looked over at her partner, who chuckled.

"Careful," the Faunus said. "Don't want him to know you were admiring him like that."

"But he was so...cool..." Lilly managed.

Ingrid couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, you definitely don't wanna stroke his ego by telling him that."

"Yes!" Perseus yelled, leaping up into the air. "That was friggin' awesome!"

"Slick work, my friend," Xanthus said, bumping fists with Leon, who also bumped fists with Perseus.

"You, mister Leon, have style," Perseus said.

"And you have a hell of a throwing arm," Leon said.

Lilly lagged behind with Echo as the rest of their team marched back to the cliffs, where Oscar and Glynda were awaiting them.

"Hey," Echo said to her.

"Hmm?"

"You did good."

Lilly smiled back. "Thanks, but you and your bow are so awesome I mean that was so cool how you used different kinds of Dust and stuff for different Grimm and that big _kaboom!_ and _boosh!_ and _wha-pow!_ that was so awesome!"

Echo couldn't help but giggle quietly. For a while, she forgot how low she probably ranked among these other students. For just a bit, Lilly's excitement and innocence took her mind off of all the bad things in the world.

—

"I'm not surprised that the twins were the ones to finish off the fight," Glynda said, "but it seems the team that got the gold knight pieces is going to have a bit of trouble with leadership."

"Yes," Oscar said. "Both Athena and Perseus have strong, alpha personalities. Xanthus won't have a problem following orders from either and Echo is more of a support member. I wonder how things will play out."

"Who will you select as their team leader?"

"That's not solely up to me. Which way do you cast your vote?"

"Well, like you said, it can go either way between Athena and Perseus. I have a feeling you may play favorites, though."

"Nonsense. I am perfectly capable of being an impartial judge."

"What about the team that got the gold queen pieces? None of those four have strong leadership qualities. In fact, I'd say they're all more independent than anything else. Ingrid specializes in surprise attacks while Leon is more of a head-on type of person. Yuan is a strong technical fighter. It's Lilly I'm worried about."

"She just needs time to blossom."

"I see. I think I know which way that team is going."

—

"Congratulations to all of you," Oscar said. "All one hundred applicants might not have made it this year, but the thirty-two of you have proven yourselves capable of staying alive and, more importantly, keeping each other alive. At Beacon Academy, we place high value on the ability to cooperate with your teammates, and every single one of you has shone brightly."

He and Glynda proceeded to call out the new teams, which were decided by who picked up which chess pieces during the initiation. Each team's leader was determined by a vote from key faculty members, with the tiebreaking vote going to Oscar. It was he who decided the leader of Team APEX.

"Perseus Jupiter," Oscar began, "Echo Atalante, Xanthus Xenon, and Athena Rose. You all recovered the golden knight pieces. As such, you will, henceforth, be known as Team APEX, led by Athena Rose."

"Hell yeah," Perseus said, turning to Athena and saluting. "It's a pleasure to be of service, ma'am."

"You can count on us," Xanthus said to her before pushing up his glasses.

Echo gave her a smile.

"I will do my best," Athena said, standing with the utmost of confidence.

"Leon Rose," Oscar continued, "Lilly Schnee, Ingrid Belladonna, and Yuan Ren, you've recovered the gold queen pieces. From this day onward, you are Team LILY, led by none other than Miss Lilly Schnee."

"W-What?" Lilly stammered. "M-Me?"

"Hey, congrats!" Leon said, putting an arm around her.

"B-But why me?"

"Cuz you're good enough to be our leader," Ingrid said with a smile.

"I-I didn't even do anything out there."

"Sure you did. You kicked ass, just like the rest of us."

Yuan nodded in agreement.

"See? We're not the only ones who think so."

Lilly looked over to Team APEX, all of whom were clapping for her. She turned to the audience as well. It seemed their applause was louder than it was for the other teams.

 _It must be because we're the last to be announced,_ she thought. _Yeah, that's gotta be it. Cuz I'm nothing special at all. Why would they be clapping for me so much?_ She paused in thought. _Oh. Right. My name._

"What's wrong?" Ingrid asked her.

"Nothing," she lied through her teeth.

"Leon, it's because you're creeping her out."

"What're you talking about?" Leon said.

Without a word, Ingrid removed his arm from around Lilly's shoulders.

"Oh, my bad," he said, wrapping his arm around Ingrid instead. "If you were getting jealous, you coulda said something."

"Oh, my god," Ingrid said.

"Hey, Yuan! Get in on this!"

Yuan shrugged before joining his team for the photo opportunities. As the media surrounded them, asking questions and giving congratulations, Lilly found it difficult to keep smiling with all of the comments about her family.

"Hey, hey," Leon said to one reporter. "Where Lilly comes from has nothing to do with her being our team leader. She's our leader because of her own strength and courage."

She glanced over at him. His attention was focused on the mob of people. His confidence was astounding and she found it difficult not to smile. Her eyes wandered elsewhere and spotted Team APEX. Athena and Perseus were definitely made for the spotlight. Perseus stood taller than Athena, probably right at six feet, and he was muscular. Athena also had a strong build.

Xanthus was no introvert either, granting all of the reporters the most earnest, yet technical answers he could give, including the strategies with which they approached initiation and the team tactics they had to employ. Lilly caught Echo's pale green eyes. They gave each other small smiles.

"Hey," Lilly said to her team. "C'mon! Let's get pictures with Team APEX!"

"See?" Leon said to the reporters. "That's why Lilly is the leader of Team LILY! Come, now, you won't want to miss the rare opportunity to capture, on live TV, the diplomatic prowess of our leader!"

"Oh, brother," Ingrid said, rolling her eyes as they joined Team APEX.

Both teams linked up for a photograph. The teams' leaders stood together in the center with the rest of their members to either side.

"Congrats on the position, Lilly," Athena said as the cameras went crazy.

"You actually deserve your spot," Lilly replied. "I probably got this gig only because of my last name. Your bro would totally do better as team leader than me."

"Don't say that. You've got what it takes to lead your team."

She sighed. "I wish I could believe you."

"It's not me you've gotta believe in. It's yourself."

—

It was evening when Lilly made it up to the CCTS tower. She was supposed to have called home last night, but it was impossible to get away from the tour group and from Athena and Ingrid. She was not going to miss this chance, though. She looked through her scroll. Vale was a number of hours behind Oasis and her mom was probably asleep already. Still, she had to at least leave a voicemail.

"Where can I connect you tonight—oh, Miss Schnee!"

Lilly sighed. "It's okay, you don't have to address me so formally."

"W-Well, I mean—"

"I just wanna connect with my mom, please."

"All right, then. One call to Oasis coming right up."

Lilly watched as the Atlas operator's face disappeared, displaying the Atlas logo as her call was patched through. She closed her eyes, sighing to herself. Why did she have to act that way toward a complete stranger? She was just doing her job. It's not as if she were intentionally trying to brown nose just because her name was Schnee—

"Lilly?" her mother's voice sounded as her face appeared on the screen.

Lilly was going to greet her when she suddenly found herself with tears blurring her vision.

"Lilly, are you all right?"

She nodded quickly. "Mom," she managed. "I've missed you."

Weiss managed a smile. "I've missed you, too, hon. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter," she sniffled. "I just..."

"Did someone hurt you?"

She shook her head before wiping her tears away. "No, nothing like that." She spent a few seconds regaining her composure. "They made me team leader, you know. And take a wild guess what the team's name is."

"Team LILY?"

"Did you watch the broadcast?"

Weiss nodded. "Of course I did. I wasn't gonna miss that for the world."

She sniffled again. "Why did they make _me_ team leader?"

"Because you have what it takes."

"Mom, you know I'm the only one here who didn't go to combat school, don't you?"

"You didn't need any of that. How did you do during the initiation?"

She recalled the battles with the Grimm. "I mean, I survived it."

"Not from what I hear. You've already learned to use Myrtenaster without me needing to teach you."

Her melancholy instantly morphed into sass. "Yeah, mom, about that. You never taught me how to use this thing. I had to figure it out while flying through the air!"

Weiss began laughing.

"That's not funny! I thought I was gonna die!"

"No, you weren't. You have an aura, silly."

"Yeah, but the landing would've really hurt!"

"Tell me about your team."

"Oh, oh, so we've got two boys and two girls on our team and my partner is a Faunus girl named Ingrid Belladonna and our other two teammates are Yuan Ren and Leon Rose and there's this other team that we're good friends with too and it's led by—"

"Lilly, what have I told you about your energy?"

Lilly shrank in her seat, her voice shrinking with her body. "Sorry, mom."

Weiss chuckled. "Anyway, go on."

"So, Team APEX is led by Leon's older twin sister, Athena Rose, and they've got a guy named Perseus Jupiter, a girl named Echo Atalante who's really good with her bow! and a guy named Xanthus Xenon, who's got glasses and is really smart and likes to talk about theoretical stuff and he's got two swords and—sorry, I almost did it again."

Her mom couldn't hold in her chuckle. "So, you're all good friends already, huh?"

"Yeah! I guess."

"And that's what makes you a good leader."

She didn't answer.

"You've already made friends with seven other people on your first two days."

"Eight, if you count Penny, our really pretty tour guide!"

"Exactly. You've already made eight friends on your first two days at Beacon and you made it through initiation with your team, all eight of them, I'm guessing."

She nodded.

"To be able to bring people together is a quality extremely important of a leader. You can't just be good at fighting or smart or come from a rich background. You also need to be able to compel them to follow you." She looked to the side in thought.

"Mom?" Lilly said.

"It's nothing," Weiss replied, wiping a small tear from her eye. "I just...knew someone from a long time ago who had the same qualities about him."

"Oh." She refrained from pushing the issue any further. It wasn't usual for her mother to cry and she didn't want to open any old wounds that might be there from her days at war so long ago. "I mean," Lilly continued, "I'll try my best."

"And that's all I ask for," Weiss said. "I don't care if you're not an A+ student. I just care that you give it everything you've got. And if your 100% is a B, that's fine with me."

"What if it's a C-?"

"Well, now you're pushing it."

They both shared a laugh together.

"I didn't wake you up, by the way, did I?" Lilly said.

Weiss shook her head. "Not at all. I've had my scroll beside me all day. I figured you'd call after the Beacon Initiation Ceremony."

"I promise to make you proud, mom."

"Lilly. I'm already proud of you."

"Great, now I'm gonna cry again," Lilly said, feeling the tears well up behind her eyes.

"I love you, my darling."

Lilly smiled. "Love you, too, mom."


	5. Chapter V

CHAPTER V

 _Hustle and Bustle_

Lilly awoke to the sound of shuffling around her. She looked to the right. Ingrid, Leon, and Yuan were all getting ready for classes.

"What time is it?" she yawned.

"She's awake!" Leon said, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Wait," she said, rolling out of bed. "What time is—"

"Lilly! No!" Ingrid said just as their team leader yelped, falling down to the ground. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

"Ow," she said, rubbing her head.

"Did you forget you were top bunk?" Leon chuckled as Yuan extended a hand to help her up.

"We might need to switch places," Ingrid said.

"Thanks, Yuan," Lilly said. "Ow, my elbow."

"So, you might wanna hurry," Leon said. "Classes start in about fifteen minutes."

Her eyes opened wide. That wasn't enough time to get dressed _and_ run to class.

"But hey, we already got your uniform ready!"

Lilly looked at the skirt. "That's _way_ too short!"

"But it's cute, isn't it?"

"Leon!" Ingrid yelled before pulling out Lilly's real uniform. "Ugh! This isn't the time to be joking around!"

"Thanks, Ingrid," Lilly said, accepting the uniform from her. She stuck her tongue out at Leon as she passed by to go change in the girls' showers.

"Fourteen minutes left!" Leon yelled down the hall. Echo was just getting out of Team APEX's room across the hall from theirs. "Oh, g'mornin', Echo," he said to her.

She returned his smile.

"Hey," Leon said, leaning in toward Ingrid. "Who do you think is quieter? Yuan or Echo?"

"Hmm," she said, pausing in thought. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think I don't care."

"Oh, c'mon! Don't be like that!"

"Is he bothering you again?" Athena said as she and her team passed by their open door.

"He's _always_ bothering me," Ingrid said.

"True."

"Hey, nice digs," Perseus said, stepping into their room. "I'm guessing this is the boys' side of the room, huh?"

"You got it," Leon said. "How does thou liketh my humble abode?"

"Oh, shit, y'all got video games. Yo, real talk, me and Xanthus, you and Yuan."

"You're on, brotha."

"Not now, oh my god," Ingrid said, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"No, no, of course not!" Perseus said. "After classes. First homework is kicking Team LILY's ass on the console."

"I shall do my best," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"Okay," Lilly said, arriving at the group. "We ready?"

"Don't forget your backpack," Ingrid said. "I packed everything up for you already, so you're good."

"Let's go!"

Teams LILY and APEX gathered outside. The first-year dorms were all the way in the back of the south quadrant and they had quite a walk to the north quadrant.

"You know," Perseus started. "I think we should totally make it to our first class in style."

Athena smirked at him. "I like the way you think," she said.

"Hah!" Leon said. "C'mon, then! The flashier, the better!"

"Let's do it!" Perseus said, the first to leap up high to scurry up to whatever ledges he could find.

Athena was next, followed by Leon and Xanthus. Echo reached the highest ledge, eventually running along the rooftops. Not one to be outdone, the only Faunus of the group scampered up a wall, also running across the rooftops.

"C'mon!" Ingrid yelled back at Lilly, whose shoulders dropped.

"I can't do any of that," she whined.

Yuan joined her side.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were still here."

"Not gonna leave my leader behind," he said.

She smiled.

"C'mon. We can't all go on the rooftops. That's boring."

"Agreed."

"Lead the way, boss."

Lilly broke into a sprint, leaping over obstacles, dodging other students, and sliding her way along rails as she followed the rest of her friends, who were keeping as high an altitude as possible. Ingrid and Echo were at the very tops, leaping from pillar to pillar, each one quietly trying to outdo the other.

"Wanna try and gain some height?" Yuan asked Lilly.

"How?" she said. "I can't jump that high."

"You can handle landings, though, right?"

"I guess."

He ran ahead of her. "C'mon. I'll toss you up and then you can use your Dust to help me up, too."

She smirked. "Roger that!"

Yuan took Lilly's hand with a strong grip and hurled her up toward the top of a pillar. She turned around, quickly targeting her teammate with Gravity Dust and pulled the trigger on Myrtenaster.

"Your turn!" she yelled.

He leaped up as well, floating up to the same pillar she had just managed to land on.

"Whew!" she said. Her knees were trembling with a combination of anxiety and excitement. "This is high up!"

"C'mon!" Yuan said, leaping to the next pillar. "They're almost at the class already!"

She bit her lower lip as she prepared to jump to the next pillar.

"Don't over-think it!" Yuan yelled back to her. "Just spread your wings!"

"I don't have any wings!" she yelled back.

She looked left and right. She really was high up. There were a lot of students down in the quad watching the whole spectacle. Some were amused, others found their stunt juvenile.

 _"First-year students."_

 _"Seriously."_

 _"That energy, though."_

 _"It's like dealing with high-school kids."_

Lilly grinned before leaping to the following pillar, landing precariously on the next. Once she got the hang of it, she built up a nice rhythm, eventually catching up with Yuan, who was waiting for her on the last pillar.

"See you down below?" he asked before falling backwards.

"Hey!" she said, crouching at the edge and looking past to watch him somersault a number of times before landing on his feet and sprinting to the rest of the group, who were all waiting for them in a line right in front of the lecture building. She looked over at the others.

"C'mon!" Athena yelled. "You got this, Lilly!"

Lilly let another grin spread across her face as a wild idea came to her. She took a few steps back to get a running start before springing forward and twirling in the air.

"Somebody catch me!" she yelled.

"Oh, hell yeah," Leon said, getting ready to meet her in the air. "This is my chance!"

"Too late, pretty boy!" Perseus said, jumping up into the sky first.

"Hey, what?"

"Ohh!" a number of voices sounded from behind him.

Lilly found herself in a pair of strong arms. She looked into the navy blue eyes of Perseus Jupiter, son of the Jupiter Family of Jupiter Enterprises. His dark blonde hair fluttered in the wind.

"Why, hello, Snow Princess," he said with a smile that could melt any girl's heart.

She reddened. Had she been on her feet, she might have swooned right down to the ground. Thank goodness she was in his arms already. He landed lightly on his feet, setting her back down on the pavement. Applause broke out the moment they touched down. Lilly looked around, smiling sheepishly at their audience of students and visitors.

"We should do that again," Perseus said to her in as deep a voice as he could muster.

She laughed nervously before running to the rest of the group. "C'mon!" she said. "We're gonna be late!"

—

"Whew!" Lilly said, first to walk into their class. "We just made it!"

"Yeah, but the professor isn't even here yet," Ingrid said.

"Fine with me," Leon said. "As long as we ain't late for our first friggin' day of classes."

They all took their seats, the teams sticking together. After a minute, Leon and Perseus became restless and hung out in the aisle, eventually pulling Yuan and Xanthus from their own seats to chitchat.

"Something tells me we got the wrong teams," Athena said as she and Echo approached Lilly and Ingrid.

"You're tellin' me," Ingrid said. "Look at all the fun those guys are having."

Athena turned to Lilly. "Speaking of fun, _you_ sure look like you had a blast."

Lilly shrank in her seat. "That was more scary than anything," she muttered.

"Even when Big-Strong-Arms with the Million-Lien-Smile had you up in the sky?"

She turned red. "Yes. That was terrifying."

The other three girls laughed.

"Leon's still butthurt about that, you know," Ingrid said. "He wanted to be the one to catch you."

Lilly reddened even more. "Guys. This isn't fun."

"Ugh," Athena said. "Just imagine how much worse it would be if it _was_ my brother who caught you. At least Perseus has manners."

"And class," Ingrid added.

Lilly further slouched until she slid off of her chair and ended up under her desk.

"Oh, look," Athena said. "Echo, you're not the only one good at stealth."

The team's archer chuckled quietly before turning to the front of the room, where a door to the side opened. Athena looked in the same direction, her eyes widening as her jaw dropped.

"No," she said.

"Are you serious?" Leon said, also looking at their professor.

"Goooood morning, students," their professor said.

"You know him?" Perseus said to Leon and Athena.

"Yes," Leon said.

"That's..." Athena said.

"Welcome to Beacon, all you little worms and Grimm bait," the professor said, his voice as rough as his unkempt, unshaven appearance. "How's y'all doin', hmm?"

"Good morning, Professor," the rest of the class said.

"Hmm?" he said, eyeing Teams LILY and APEX. "Hah. What are the odds?"

"Grandpa Qrow!" Athena and Leon yelled at the same time before darting to him, each one clinging to either arm.

"What the?" Xanthus said, looking over the top of his glasses before pushing them back up.

"Did they just say 'grandpa'?" Lilly said, emerging from underneath her desk.

"Yup," Ingrid said. "More accurately, he's their great uncle, since he's their mom's uncle, well, not biologically, but still. Yeah, it's confusing."

"Okay, okay," Qrow laughed, shaking Athena and Leon off. "Hey, you two realize this is class and not a powwow, right?"

"Yessir!" Leon said, saluting him as he headed back to his seat.

"Wait," Athena said, putting her hands on her hips before lowering her voice to a whisper. "You're not drunk again, are you?"

They leaned in toward each other. "Nope," he said. "I was drunk yesterday."

Athena sighed heavily. "So you're hung over."

"Maaaaaaybe."

"What was that about this not being a powwow?"

He chuckled and she rolled her eyes as she went back to her seat.

"This is gonna be fun," Ingrid said.

"You say it is," Lilly said, "but you sound like you mean the opposite."

"Qrow's an interesting person."

"Interesting?" Leon said. "He's only the best grandpa ever!"

"He looks a little young to be a grandpa," Xanthus said.

"Okay, class," Qrow began. "Are you ready for a pop quiz?"

It was impossible to overstate the amount of surprise and anxiety that instantly filled the entire classroom at the sound of those words.

"Just kidding! That woke all of you up, didn't it?"

The collective sigh of relief and exasperation from everyone could be heard all the way from the dorms.

"And it starts," Ingrid said, leaning her head against her palm.

—

Lilly hugged her books as she headed across the quad toward the south quadrant. Her destination was the west wing, the student life center. She ordered some coffee before taking a seat alone outside. She let the drink cool for a bit before sipping. The taste wasn't quite as complex as what her mother always prepared, but it was reasonable for a small café on campus.

She leaned back in her chair, watching as other students walked by. Every single one had their weapons hanging at their side. From the little bit she was able to eke out of Professor Branwen's lecture, she figured most of these weapons were handmade, assuming they attended primary combat school, anyway. She pulled up her own weapon, Myrtenaster, the Dust rapier she had inherited from her mother.

 _What's the big idea giving this thing to me?_ she thought, reminiscing on her time back home. Any other day and she'd be out socializing with her new friends, perhaps even making more friends, but she simply couldn't get past the fact that she was so out of place here. Just what would she talk about if she made new friends? How much of a failure she was? She couldn't even tell the difference between a Creep Grimm and a Beowolf Grimm. And that was in chapter one of this textbook she was now looking at.

She sighed heavily, setting her cup down as she opened up the Grimm compendium. It wasn't the largest of her textbooks, but it certainly was dense. She got to the second paragraph when she gave up and closed it, letting her head fall on the cover.

"I am never gonna catch up," she sighed heavily.

There were footsteps to her left and she turned her head to look. Echo was passing by, giving her a wave.

"Hey, Echo," Lilly said before closing her eyes.

"There you are!"

She looked up to spot the rest of her team marching in her direction.

"We've been looking all over for you!" Leon said. "Dang, you drink your coffee black?"

Lilly nodded. "I hate when people ruin coffee by adding blasphemous amounts of sugar and cream."

"Oh, so this is actually good, huh?" Ingrid asked.

She nodded, taking a sip. "I mean, it's good for what it is. The blend isn't as rich as it could be. It's a little on the acidic side."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Coffee can be acidic?"

"Mm-hmm. The flavor profile depends strongly on what kinds of beans you mix together and how they're brewed. If you use too much heat all at once, you can ruin the flavor completely. Filtering also has a strong effect on the finished product."

The other three gave each other confused glances and shrugs.

"Here, have a sip," Lilly said, handing her cup over to her Faunus teammate.

Ingrid's face twisted in disgust. "How the heck can you drink something so bitter?"

"I guess it's an acquired taste."

"Yeah, acquired in hell, maybe."

Leon chuckled before taking a seat at the table with her, prompting the other two to sit as well.

"So you're the type that studies at a café instead of the library, huh?" Leon said.

Lilly nodded. "The scent brings me back home. Mom would brew coffee every morning."

"Oh, that explains your sophisticated palate."

She looked down at the table. Yeah, sophisticated. Like the rest of her family. She needed to get her mind off of that. And fast.

"Hey," she said, standing up. "Let's go to Vale."

"And do what?" Ingrid asked.

"We need to look like a team."

"I mean, we already do?" Leon said.

"Nope. Not yet. Let's go!"

—

Team LILY looked around as they strolled the commercial district. A lot of changes happened over the last eighteen years. The end of the Labyrinth War saw the Grimm's numbers reduced to record levels. Although they weren't completely annihilated, many towns and villages that were once constantly harassed by Grimm experienced such a sharp decrease in their numbers that they were able to quickly rebuild. Naturally, the capitals of the kingdoms benefited most from this new situation.

Never in recent history had Remnant witnessed such a level of prosperity. Trade and communication between the four kingdoms and Menagerie were at an all-time high. Since the war ended, the world's population more than doubled. This increase in growth was most obvious in the dense urban centers of the kingdoms' capitals. Even now, Lilly and her team had to hold hands in order to keep from being separated by the ocean of people in the downtown commercial district.

"Since when did this place get so damn crowded?" Leon grunted, pushing his way through.

"Hey!" Lilly said, stopping as she looked back. "Wait! We lost Yuan!"

They all looked up to spot their teammate leaping from lamppost to lamppost.

"I see him!" Ingrid said, also negotiating her way up to join him.

"Is that legal?" Lilly said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Who knows?" Leon said. "Let's go join them?"

She sighed before following him, watching as he landed on top of a lamppost.

"How did you do that?" she yelled to him.

He turned back and smirked. "My bad. Didn't mean to leave you behind." He jumped back down. "Should I carry you?"

She reddened. "I think I can manage on my own!"

He chuckled. "Stop getting left behind then!"

She growled, jumping after him, using Myrtenaster's Gravity Dust to aid her. People down on the ground watched as they bypassed by the crowd with their skills. Some expressed annoyed jealousy while others, particularly younger folk, were thrilled to see such a rare sight. This may as well have been an advertisement to the youth to become Huntsmen, or, at the very least, soldiers in the ongoing war against the Grimm.

"Oh!" Lilly said, spotting a shopping mall. "Hey! Let's go that way!"

"Lead the way, boss!" Leon said as he and the other two followed Lilly to their final destination, a clothing outlet.

"So," Ingrid said, looking around, completely lost. "What is this place?"

"A mall, duh!" Lilly said, browsing through the selections.

"Oh!" Leon said with mock excitement as he hopped around. "It's like we're all best friends! We're going shopping, next thing you know we're getting our nails done together and our hair and—"

Ingrid smacked him on the back of the head.

"Do you have to be so violent all the time?" he yelled at her.

"With you, yes," she said.

Lilly couldn't stop the chuckle. "Okay, so..." She picked out clothes for all of them. "I'm thinking we should all get matching coats, all our own colors. Mine's gonna be white, cuz, lilies, Leon's is...hey, what's red that starts with L?"

"You don't know?" he said.

She shook her head.

"Well, the L in my name fits perfectly for red."

"Oh, god, this again," Ingrid said.

"Huh?" Lilly said.

"Because," Leon continued, posing as magnificently as he could, "red is the color of Love!"

Ingrid had a hand on her face. Lilly stared awkwardly. Yuan couldn't help his chuckle.

"Eh?" Leon said.

"I am really gonna hit you again," Ingrid said, shaking her head.

"So," Lilly said, turning to Ingrid. "Your color is..."

"Indigo," she said, "which is a real color, unlike 'loooooove'."

Lilly giggled. "What about you, Yuan?"

"Cyan," he said.

"But that doesn't start with a Y."

"It's got a Y in it, though."

Leon chuckled. "Yo, that's actually pretty funny."

They gave each other high fives.

"Great," Ingrid said. "You're infecting him."

"Sweet," Lilly said, picking out four matching coats in their colors. "Here, everybody try these on."

"Not bad," Leon said, eyeing Ingrid. "You look good in indigo."

"I've known you for so long," she began, "but I still can't figure out if that's a sincere compliment, or you're just being you again."

He chuckled. "Just being me? What's that supposed to mean?"

Yuan posed in front of a mirror. His coat was chiefly dark green in color, but there were cyan details, particularly in the outline and trim.

"I think it goes well with your eyes," Lilly said to him with a big smile.

He turned to her. The white coat with blue trim went well with her own look, perfectly complementing the smile on her face, which was contagious.

"So, you just gonna wear your hair down all the time?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I'm thinking about getting it cut, actually."

"Why?"

"Well, from a practical standpoint, it uses up way too much shampoo. But I also think I wanna do a new look. I've had my mom's hairstyle forever."

"You gonna put your hair up?" Ingrid asked her.

"Probably."

"My highlights are starting to fade, too," Leon said, standing in front of the mirror Yuan had been using. "Bro, you gonna redo your magenta highlight, too?"

"We're already out and about," Yuan said. "Might as well."

Each of them picked out clothing to match their coats. Ingrid went with a black and indigo theme, complete with black combat boots and a scarf. Her shirt showed off her midriff, which, of course, caught both boys' attention. Leon stuck with something simple, yet fashionable, black jeans and boots with a dark red v-neck t-shirt he left un-tucked, topping it all off with sunglasses. Yuan's clothing was much more nuanced. His theme was light-green with cyan detailing, though the latter was so difficult to find that he settled for gold details most of the time. He went with pants and a top that was reminiscent of the clothing worn in Mistral. Only the overcoat Lilly had gotten for him didn't match.

"Here," Lilly said, handing him another coat. "This should go with your new outfit a lot better."

"You really do have an eye for fashion," Yuan said. "Better than Leon I think."

"You take that back," Leon said sternly.

"Not until you prove yourself."

Lilly giggled. "There! That's a better combination!"

"The whole 'Eastern' look is good on you," Ingrid said with a smile. When he returned her smile, she found her cheeks warming up.

"What about you?" Leon said to Lilly, who had a number of items in a shopping basket.

"B-R-B!" she said before disappearing into the fitting rooms.

"That was a lot of stuff she had," Ingrid said.

"You know," Leon said, eyeing her outfit, "that's not half bad."

She glared at him.

"I'm being serious! Don't you think so, Yuan?"

He nodded. "I think it's cute how you two are kind of matching, but opposites. You both have a lot of black, but Ingrid has indigo and you have dark red."

Ingrid gagged. "I'm gonna barf."

"Oh, c'mon!" Leon said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "He's right! It is kinda cute!"

She gagged again. He caught her grossed-out face as he snapped a photo with his scroll.

"You better delete that," she said.

"Nah-uh!" he said. "This is gonna be my profile pic!"

"You dick!" She grabbed for his scroll, but he kept it out of reach. "I'm gonna steal your scythe later tonight!"

He gasped. "You wouldn't! Not my Vermillion Crescent!"

"I will if you don't delete that!"

"Delete what?" Lilly said, rejoining the group.

Leon's jaw dropped as his eyes went from head to feet back up to head again. Lilly was in a short white dress with pale blue bordering, matched by a pair of knee-high white boots with pale blue details as well. Her white coat matched the theme, the buttons washed in pale blue along with the embroidering on the edges and cuffs. She left the coat unbuttoned, showing off her cute dress.

Ingrid reached over and pushed Leon's chin back up, but when she removed her hand, it fell right back down. She chuckled before looking over at Yuan, who was also admiring Lilly's getup. A mild sensation of jealousy came over her, but she ignored it.

"Finally you look like a Schnee," Ingrid said.

"Huh?" Lilly said.

"I mean, not that you need to be dressing the way your family does or anything like that, but this looks really good on you."

"Thanks! The heels really even up our height with the boys, too."

"Yeah, that's why I picked boots with heels."

"I'm still the shortest, though."

"Hey, you're not short!" Leon said, wrapping an arm around her. "You're fun-sized!"

She snickered before pulling out her scroll and gesturing for Yuan and Ingrid to join in the group shot.

"'Kay," she said, "we've gotta get before and after shots."

"Before and after?" Ingrid said.

"Yeah. Cuz we're all going to get haircuts and stuff after this, right?"

"Well, you're getting the haircut. I still don't understand why."

"Just something different, I guess."

"Selfie time!" Leon said, taking a picture with his scroll before the rest did the same.


	6. Chapter VI

CHAPTER VI

 _Top of the Pack_

"There she is," Perseus said as Echo rejoined the group with some coffee for all of them. "Thank you very much, Miss Atalante."

She chuckled. "Echo is fine."

"I think we should all get to know each other," Xanthus said before taking a sip of his drink. "Mmm, this is pretty good."

"You wanted no cream, but some sugar," Echo said. "Did I get it right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Perfect blend, too."

"I agree with Xanthus," Athena said. "If we're going to be the best team Beacon's ever seen, we need to know each other inside and out."

"How about we kick it at the big statue?" Perseus said. "I never see anybody actually hanging out on the pedestal. Let's make a name for ourselves."

"You want to deface public property?" Xanthus said, almost hysterical.

Perseus laughed. "Relax, dude. We're just gonna sit there and talk. Nobody's gonna carve their names into the marble."

"You almost gave Xanthus a heart attack," Athena said as she led the way to the quad. "I'll start. I went to Signal Academy on Patch, where my mom and dad teach. My grandpa is the school's headmaster."

"Your combat style incorporates the use of a spear and shield," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Am I correct in assuming this is something you picked up from your parents?"

"My dad actually uses a sword instead of a spear. He also uses a full body shield rather than a circular one like mine."

"So, then," Perseus said, standing at the edge of the artificial pond. "Is this statue of him? Cuz he sounds like a knight."

Athena shrugged. "I texted a picture of this to them with that exact question. Neither of them ever replied back."

"Huh. Well, I think that base is just big enough for all four of us to sit on. What's your Semblance, by the way?"

"I'll show you," Athena said, stepping back to get a running start. She dashed forward, throwing her shield beneath her feet and surfing it all the way to the statue.

"Yo!" Perseus said, his mouth open. "You didn't even touch the water! How the heck did you do that?"

"Why don't you guys come over here so I don't have to shout it across campus?" she yelled back.

"Don't mind if I do!" Xanthus said before vaulting off of the edge of the pool, somersaulting through the air and landing right beside their leader.

"Nice aim," she said, putting a hand on her hip.

"Our leader has complimented me. I can now rest in peace."

She chuckled. "You're so dramatic."

"Okay, it's my turn," Perseus said, his leg muscles alone propelling him all the way to the statue.

"Echo!" Athena called out.

The team's archer looked around the pool. She could make the leap all the way to the center as well, but she figured it was time for a little variation. There were a number of spouts all around, none of them active at the moment. She lightly hopped from one to the next, landing with precision and grace before hitting a wet spot on the last spout. She lost her balance momentarily, about to plunge into the water, when something supported her from behind. She looked over at Athena, who was holding a hand out in her direction, shield missing.

"I gotcha!" their leader said as her shield pushed her back upright.

Echo grabbed on to the shield before making the last jump to join her team. She handed the shield back to Athena.

"So you can control objects," Xanthus said.

"Not just anything, though," Athena said, hanging her shield on her back. "Ferromagnetic metals I can control up to twenty-five meters. Further away and I lose it. Also, I can only handle two objects at a time."

"I'm guessing the more massive the object, the 'heavier' it is for your Semblance, right?" Perseus said.

She nodded. "Is it the same with your super strength?"

"I believe the term was," Xanthus began, "'holy-shit level of strength'."

The others chuckled.

"That's right," Perseus said. "I might be strong, but there's a certain point when it becomes detrimental. My strength is limited by my body's actual capacity, after all. For example, if I were to punch something really hard after my aura has broken, I'd likely break every bone in my hand. And arm. Likewise, even with a fully active aura, if I were to punch something that has really high resistance, like, say, a solid block of steel, my aura would break with the punch."

"You must have gotten good at discerning when to activate your strength, then," Athena said.

"Yes, ma'am. So, do I have what it takes to be on Team APEX?"

"You've more than proven that yesterday."

"So, we've got two shield-wielders, a dual-wielder, and an archer. This is quite the team. Xanthus, what's your Semblance?"

"My Semblance is connected to these two swords on my back," he said. "Unlike the rest of you, it's not inherent to me personally. My father is a blacksmith and he used to experiment with Dust all the time. When I was still a boy, during one of his experiments, I was struck by lightning in the middle of his forge with all the Dust around. We still have no idea what the heck happened. I mean, I should have died, but..."

"Wait," Perseus said. "Did the Dust get embedded into your body because of the lightning?"

"My parents consulted Dr. William Hillphire of Hillphire Innovations and he thinks that's exactly what happened. I was not born with heterochromia. My belief is that the Dust became absorbed into my DNA and, well..."

He drew both of his swords before activating his Semblance. The sword in his left hand turned into a deep red color, matching his left eye. It wasn't quite glowing, though. It was as though the metal itself changed. The one in his right hand turned blue, matching his eye color on that side.

"So, the left side of your body got the Fire Dust," Athena said, "and the right side got Ice Dust."

"Yes," Xanthus said, fixing his glasses. "Both swords were forged with Dust that was left over from the accident, with the help of Dr. Hillphire. His hypothesis was that the swords would resonate with me and he was right. My Semblance is the ability to activate this Dust power without actually needing to use Dust."

"That's like magic," Perseus said.

"Not really. Even though using this power doesn't physically consume Dust, it does consume my aura."

"I think I understand," Athena said. "Your Semblance basically transferred the consumption of matter from Dust to your actual soul."

"Yes. It's as though the swords are an extension of my body. My dad did add his own tweaks to the swords, though. The one in my right hand, the Sword of Heaven, is forged with Air and Ice Dust, which makes it really light and fast to wield. The Sword of Chaos, in my left hand, is forged with Fire and Earth Dust, making it much tougher and heavier."

"So left is your power side," Perseus said, "and right is your blitz side."

"That's usually how I do it, but if I'm not using my Semblance to power my swords, they retain their basic properties. For example, if my current tactics required me to use the fast sword on the left and the power sword on the right, I could. I just wouldn't be able to use my Semblance unless either sword was in the correct hand."

"Hmm," Athena said. "And from the outside, your swords look identical. At least, if you weren't using your Semblance."

"That's right," Xanthus said, deactivating his Semblance. Just as Athena said, the swords were identical in appearance. "Only I can tell the difference between each sword due to its weight and balance."

"That's pretty neat," Perseus said. "You know, I think I did see you projecting sword attacks at the giant Ursa we fought yesterday. So, that was your Semblance?"

"Correct. The Sword of Heaven was the blue one throwing ice waves at the enemy. The Sword of Chaos was the red one projecting fire slashes."

"So, that used up your aura like crazy."

"Yes. But the aspect of my Semblance that truly uses up my aura is when I put both swords into 'overdrive,' so to speak. Fully activating my Semblance multiplies the effectiveness of whatever sword is in my hand by five times. This state unfortunately lasts only for thirty seconds, after which my aura is depleted and the time it takes to recover is doubled. Likewise, using both swords at the same time in this 'overdrive' state decreases the duration to a mere ten seconds and increases my aura regeneration to triple the time it would normally take."

"That's an incredibly powerful Semblance with some pretty big weaknesses," Athena said. "I'm guessing that's why you mostly use your Semblance at the moderate level?"

"Correct. In low power, I am able to control how much of my aura is consumed. The projected slashes are really the only thing that actively consumes my aura in this scenario."

"So you rarely use your 'overdrive,' huh?" Perseus said.

"I try to get by without needing to."

"It's good to know we have expert fighters on the team," Athena said. "What about you, Echo?" She looked around for their team member. "Echo?"

Perseus started chuckling. He was looking up toward the knight statue's arms, where Echo was seated, her legs dangling over the side.

"Team LILY has their ninja cat," Perseus said. "We have our own ninja archer."

"I'm guessing your Semblance has something to do with sensing danger," Athena said to her. "I noticed you were always on top of every threat we faced out there."

Echo nodded. "I've always been able to pick up on trouble," she said. "Even when I was a kid. It wasn't until I did some reading that I realized what a Semblance was."

"It's pretty reliable, too."

"A hundred percent of the time. Even if it's something as simple as my chair's leg is gonna break."

"Our team is perfect, then," Xanthus said. "Two front line fighters with shields, a technical fighter in myself, and a support member in Echo. Her Semblance will probably be the most useful out of all of ours."

"Yeah," Perseus said. "You're like our danger radar."

She smiled at them.

"And her skill with a bow is unmatched," Athena said. "You must've been at least fifty yards away when you were making some of those headshots."

"She also nailed the giant Nevermore perfectly," Xanthus said. "Even a target moving that quickly that far away is no problem for her."

Perseus began climbing the statue to try and join her up on the giant knight's arms, but the way up was slick and he lost his grip and footing just as he got to her. Before he even began to fall, she had already reached out and grabbed him by the hand.

"Holy shit," he panted. "Your Semblance is no joke!"

"You're...heavy..." she grunted, trying to pull him up.

"Oh, right!" he said, hoisting himself up after finding another foothold. "Whew! Hey, so, that means you can just float up here, huh, Athena?"

"Just because my Semblance allows me to do that doesn't mean it's unlimited and unbound, you know," she said. "Not only is there a weight limit to what I can control, I also don't have infinite concentration."

"Oh. Right."

"Are you guys done with your drinks?" Xanthus asked, pushing up his glasses.

"Are you offering to throw our cups away?" Athena said.

"Yes."

"In that case," Perseus said. "Bombs away!"

Xanthus caught both his and Echo's cups.

"Gimme a sec," Athena said before downing the rest of her coffee. "That was probably a bad idea, but whatever."

Xanthus chuckled before leaping across the pond to throw their trash away.

"I dunno about you guys," Perseus said, "but I'm voting him for class president."

"He's got my vote for sure," Athena said.

Echo nodded.

"Oh, hey," Perseus said, turning to Echo. "Now that we're all together."

"Not all of us," she said.

"Well, I was gonna say, before the other dude rejoins us. Do you have a boyfriend?"

Echo shook her head.

"Oh. Okay."

"That's it?" Athena asked him.

"Yeah. Just curious. What about you?"

"Not me either."

"I see."

Both girls were silent for a while.

"What are you planning?" Athena asked him.

"Nothing in particular. Just doing advance recon."

"That's my job," Echo said.

He chuckled.

"Did I miss anything?" Xanthus asked as he landed beside Athena.

"Just that our two teammates are single ladies," Perseus said. "What about you, Xan? You got a girl back home?"

"I never really made the time for a relationship. I've always been too busy with school. What about you?"

He looked down the side of the statue. "There was a girl," he said, his voice taking on a serious tone. "Back in Vacuo, I mean. It was never gonna work out, though."

"Why not?" Xanthus asked, leaning against the statue.

"The whole family thing. I mean, are you guys familiar with Jupiter Enterprises?"

"I've done some reading. Jupiter Enterprises was once known as the Jupiter Dust Company, which found its wealth in new Dust mines that opened up around Vacuo as a consequence of the geologic activities that arose during the final stages of the Labyrinth War. Before this event, they were well-known merchants who traveled throughout Vacuo and much of Vale, even going as far as Mistral and Menagerie. After the new Dust mines opened up, the head of the Jupiter Family claimed every single one of them and hired all sorts of security to keep them protected. In less than five years, the JDC rivaled the SDC in overall Dust sales. Only three years ago, they started moving into other industries, including medicine and manufacturing."

"That's my family," Perseus said. "Rags to riches. Naturally, we're all kept very closely in line. Hell, I'm being watched right now."

Echo was eyeing something in the sky, something only barely visible. She stood up, balancing perfectly on the statue's arm, taking aim with her bow and letting her arrow soar to strike its target dead center.

"Shit!" Perseus said, standing up as well and only barely keeping his balance.

"What was that?" Athena said.

"It looked like a drone from what I can tell," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"Yeah, it was," Perseus said. "You just shot Jupiter property out of the air!"

"Did you not want me to?" Echo asked him.

"No! No! That's perfectly awesome! I just didn't think you'd do it!"

"Okay." She sat back down.

Athena also took a seat, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the pedestal the statue rested on. The soles of her shoes were just above the water. She extended her feet, her toes barely touching the surface and making ripples that reached all the way to the other side of the artificial pond.

"What about you?" Xanthus said, sitting beside her. "A lovely lady such as yourself must have had a childhood sweetheart back on Patch."

She chuckled. "Yeah. Tons of them."

"I see. So, you were the girl the boys found impossible to ignore."

She sighed heavily. It was true. She inherited her golden hair from her father, as well as his blue eyes, his height, and his strong build. She was the girl that grew up into a woman long before the other girls even started wearing training bras.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Xanthus asked.

"It was so stupid," she said, throwing a lock of her golden hair out of her face. "Half of the boys after me were only there for my looks. The others were there for my parents. They figured if I was going out with them that they'd have an easier time with grades and shit. Well, they can go kiss somebody else's ass."

The rest of the team was quiet.

"A team leader shouldn't have outbursts like that," she sighed, leaning her hands against her knees. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Perseus said. "What are teammates for if not for listening to one another like this?"

Athena chuckled. "This really is the perfect team, huh?"

"Yes," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "We will make our name. We will be known as the top team that has ever graduated from any class."

"'Kay, that's president material there," Perseus said, pulling out his scroll and hopping down to snap a photo of him.

"Huh?"

"This is going on The Beacon. You're my nomination for our class's president."

"W-What?"

"You've got my vote," Athena said with a smile. "And my endorsement."

Echo also jumped down to join them. "Maybe we could get your face on a cereal box, too," she said.

"I don't know if I can handle that kind of popularity!" Xanthus said.

"But you can handle the responsibility of being class president, right?" Perseus said.

"Well, perhaps."

"Then, it's settled. I'm texting Team LILY all of this, too. That's seven votes right out the door."

"Hey, you never told us your story," Athena said to Echo, who leaned against the statue's sword. "How come you never had a boyfriend?"

She shrugged.

"C'mon. It can't be as simple as not being interested, could it?"

Echo held back her sigh. It really was that simple. She was not interested. Not in boys, anyway. But she couldn't decide if she was ready to let her team in on that particular bit of information just yet, especially when she had a secret crush on their strong and beautiful team leader, Athena Rose. At least neither of the boys on the team had made any moves on either of the girls. Then again, if anything, Xanthus didn't look to be the type to make the first move. And Perseus's family issues probably made that tough for him as well.

"I get it," Perseus said. "None of the boys back home were all that interesting, huh? Either that or you friend-zoned the crap out of them."

"I saw most of them as brothers," Echo said.

"Ah, bro-zoned."

"Straight into the bro-zone layer," Athena said before sighing and putting a hand to her forehead. "My goodness, I just channeled my brother."

"I like that! Friggin' bro-zone layer!"

"Well," Xanthus said, standing up. "Should we get to the library? Professor Branwen did say we have a quiz next week."

"Dang, getting on studying straight away, eh, Mr. Class President?" Perseus said.

"That's what makes a class president," Athena said, standing up as well.


	7. Chapter VII

CHAPTER VII

 _Spread Your Wings_

Lilly softly bit her finger as she waited for the page to load. Grades for this semester were in and all of Team APEX had passed with flying colors, just as everyone had expected. Lilly's results were the last and the stupid page would not load. Finally, it cleared up. Her heart sank all the way down into the dark pits of the deepest abyss as she looked at the report on her student account.

 _No pass._

She screamed. Fell to her knees. Weeping. She had failed. She said she would make her mother proud. Instead, she was a disgrace. She didn't give a damn what the rest of her family thought. She was already an outsider to begin with. But now even her own mother would not look at her.

 _All I wanted was for you to do your best. You didn't do your best, did you?_

Lilly began gasping for air. This couldn't be real. This couldn't. It had to be a nightmare. A nightmare.

 _Nightmare._

"Lilly! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

Lilly's eyes opened wide as she sat up quickly enough to make her almost pass out from the blood rushing out of her head.

"Hey!" Ingrid's voice sounded from beside her.

Lilly made eye contact with her teammate before she began crying again, covering her face with both hands.

"It's okay, you're in the real world now," Ingrid said, reaching over and cradling her friend.

"What time is it?" Lilly groaned.

"A quarter 'til six in the morning."

She let out a heavy sigh. "Did I wake anybody else up?"

Ingrid gestured toward the two boys, who were clearly knocked out from the way they were sprawled on their beds.

"Jeez," Lilly managed a chuckle.

"Hey, since we've got the dorm to ourselves right now, why don't we go get showered and dressed and head to the student life center?"

"Sure. I guess."

"C'mon. You can tell me all about the best blends of coffee and other shit I won't understand."

Lilly managed another quiet laugh, but it was impossible to get that awful scenario out of her mind. She spent longer in the shower than she should have, sitting against the tile wall as the warm droplets beat down on her soft skin. She let her snow white hair mat itself down on her shoulders and neck, taking a lock of it in her hand.

 _That's right_ , she thought. _I got it cut last week._

She stood up, closing her eyes as the water fell on her face. It had only been a week, but already she felt farther from her mother than she had ever been. Even her departure from the Atlas port didn't match the revelations that came upon her throughout the past days.

 _I'm nothing compared to her._

The water started to get cold and she shut it off, sighing as she realized she hadn't even used any shampoo or soap.

 _Whatever,_ she thought as she wrapped her towel around her body, letting her hair do what it wanted. She stood in front of the big mirror, where Ingrid was already finishing up.

"Here," Ingrid said, picking up a brush from the counter. "Can't let your pretty hair get all tangled up."

Lilly stared at herself blankly as Ingrid ran the brush through her hair to straighten it out. Her locks used to fall all the way down to her knees, the same length as her mother's. Now, it fell to her upper back.

"You gonna keep wearing it down like you've been doing?" Ingrid asked her.

"I dunno," she sighed. "Part of me kinda regrets getting it chopped off like that."

"Why did you get it cut, anyway? Was it a spur of the moment thing? Did Leon's carpe diem attitude infect you?"

She chuckled. Part of it was impulsive. If she were to be honest, it was because she didn't feel like she deserved to look like her mother anymore. She didn't even have her eyes. Only her hair color and complexion and her height. But her personality was opposite that of her mother's as well as her drive to excel.

"I keep hearing that my mom was a perfectionist and an overachiever," Lilly said.

"What does that have to do with your hair?" Ingrid asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno."

"Oh." She set the brush down on the counter. "I think I get it."

Lilly turned around to face her.

"You're trying to break away from her, aren't you?"

"No! Never!"

"So, then, you don't feel like you have any right to look like her?"

There it was. That was spot on. "Are you psychic or something?"

"Nope. You've just been comparing yourself to her all week. You know, how you don't even know the difference between a Creep and a Beowolf and how she basically started her first day already knowing everything there was to know about the Grimm and auras and Semblance and Dust."

Lilly sighed heavily.

"It can't be that bad, seeing as how you didn't chop it _all_ off. If you really didn't feel like you could compare to her, you would've gone shorter than Leon's hair."

"I just..."

"How 'bout this, then. You have until your hair's back to its old length to fill in those shoes."

That sounded like a reasonable goal, at least, to any normal person. Lilly was nothing like her mom. Five lifetimes wouldn't be enough to catch up to her.

"The other option," Ingrid continued, "would be to forget all of that and be your own person."

She looked up into her friend's yellow-amber eyes. How could she have forgotten? That was exactly what her mother had told her before she left home. _Go and be yourself._ All this pressure to perform wasn't coming from her mom at all. It was coming from within. Heck, her mother had said over their call that she was already proud of her.

Lilly sniffled, looking down.

"What's wrong now?" Ingrid chuckled.

She threw herself on her friend, sobbing quietly. Ingrid fought off a laugh before returning the embrace, stroking her damp hair.

"Okay, you're getting my uniform wet," Ingrid said.

"S-Sorry," Lilly said as she backed away.

"I'll be outside. Go ahead and get ready. I wanna try and be outta here before the boys wake up."

—

Echo was up and about long before her team got out of bed. Even before her arrival at Beacon, she was always up before the sun, a routine from being a hunter back home. Unlike the other hunters of her village, though, she always went out alone. Last week was spent mostly around Vale, her circle expanding with each foray into the city. She had made a mental map of the entire urban district, from the transition zone between Beacon and the city all the way to the edge, where the ocean began.

Today's target was Emerald Forest. Initiation had made it so she'd have to go straight for their goal, but now she had all the time in the world to scout the entire forest out. There were a few Grimm scattered about here and there, but her Semblance made evading danger a simple matter. She kept to the trees. Most of the Grimm here were earthbound and staying up high meant not having to deal with them at all. Not that she couldn't handle them, but wasting arrows was stupid when she could easily get around them.

She arrived at the ruins where she had first joined up with what would become Team APEX and Team LILY. She didn't think she'd ever be able to make friends, but it happened. Something about that girl was almost magical. She could bring any group together, no matter how different each member was. Even though both teams were technically separate from one another, it was inevitable that they would undertake missions as one giant team.

She smiled as she recalled the first time she had made eye contact with Lilly Schnee, a fellow black sheep. But while Echo was mostly an outsider as a result of her own volition, Lilly's outcast status came from being a Schnee, and yet even then she did not fit in with her own family. At least, that's what Echo figured from Lilly's personality and tastes. She didn't even dress like a typical Schnee. Well, not the Schnees that Echo saw on TV and online all the time. No, Lilly was the kind of princess that a person could approach without having to trip over words. There was no one in the world she didn't have a smile for.

And then there was Athena Rose, that tall, strong, beautiful incarnation of perfection itself. There couldn't possibly be another girl as perfect as her. Unlike the overly cute Lilly, Athena was the physical embodiment of the concept of strength and authority. Had she been an outsider, Echo would never have figured that Athena was so approachable. But having known her for a week now, Echo knew for a fact that her leader truly was perfect, in every way possible.

Of course, being so high up meant that her fall would be that much more tragic. Echo swore at this very moment that she would not allow anything like that to happen. Even if she would have to give her life to prevent that outcome, she would go to that length. If anyone deserved her loyalty, it was Athena.

She looked to the distance. The sky was starting to brighten. The sun would be up soon and she would lose her cover of darkness. She figured it was as good a time as any to start heading back to campus.

—

Ingrid began chuckling as she set down her coffee cup.

"What's so funny?" Lilly asked.

"Nothing. It's just that your nightmares are about grades and I think that's cute."

"It's not!"

She chuckled again. "I'm not trying to dismiss your fears, but my worst nightmare is losing my sisters and brother to the Grimm. Yours is...well, grades."

Lilly sighed heavily.

"But then again, I think there's a deeper reason for that. Your greatest fear isn't failing school at all. It's failing your mom."

"You really are psychic."

"Like I said, you've made it really obvious that her opinion of you matters more than anyone else's."

"Of course it does! She's my mom!"

"What about your dad?"

Lilly almost instantly shrank into her chair, eyes turned to the ground.

"I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"I don't have a dad," Lilly said, her voice as tiny as her posture.

"What happened to him?"

She shrugged. "Mom never talks about him. Ever. I don't even know his name. There are no pictures of him around the house. So, I don't know what he looks like either."

Ingrid stopped prying, quickly changing the subject to keep her leader's spirits up. "So, are you ready for today's quiz?"

Lilly looked up in shock. "Q-Quiz?"

 _What a way to backfire_ , she thought."Yeah. It's been up on the class bulletin since day one."

Lilly whined. "I am such a failure!"

"Nope, not on my watch." She pulled out her books. "C'mon. Let's run through this real quick."

—

Lilly fidgeted as the class waited for Qrow to pass their graded quizzes back to them.

"You're free to leave as soon as you get your scores," Qrow said, upon which several students left the room. "Hell, you can leave right now if you don't care about knowing your grade."

"Sweet," Perseus said. "Perfect score. What about you, boss?"

"Same," Athena said. "Xanthus?"

They turned to him. He was crying in an incredibly exaggerated parody of himself.

"My goodness, you really are overdramatic. What's your score?"

He turned his paper to them. It was scored 100% as well.

"What the hell are you crying about, then?" Perseus said.

"My parents will be ashamed of me," Xanthus said. "100% is not enough for my family."

Perseus and Athena's mouths were wide open.

"You can't be serious," Athena said.

"What she said," Perseus said.

Xanthus nodded, removing his glasses temporarily to wipe away tears.

"You know what, screw this. C'mon. Let's all go to the arcade or something."

"You'll have to go without me," Echo said, packing up her things and hurrying away.

"Hey," Athena said. "Wait! Echo!"

She was already gone before the rest of her team could react.

"What happened?" Perseus said, to which Athena shrugged.

Meanwhile, Lilly got even more anxious. That crash course Ingrid had put her through didn't help. At least, she didn't think it did, not with all of the blank staring she was doing all throughout the quiz.

"85%," Leon said. "At least I'm passing." He looked over at Yuan's paper. "Well, my bad, mister 92%."

Yuan shrugged.

"89% for me," Ingrid said.

"Good," Leon said. "At least we're all passing."

All three heads turned to Lilly. She was paler than normal, her lips pursed, hands shaking, eyes glued to her quiz. They quickly surrounded her from behind and looked at her score.

 _73%_

"Hey, that's still passing," Leon said, pausing for a long time. "Right?"

"75% is passing," Lilly sighed heavily, calmly setting the quiz down on her desk.

The trio looked at one another. This was not a good sign. They expected her to react energetically, to perhaps whine and cry a little bit before screaming. The fact that she was so calm, staring off into space like this, was cause for alarm.

"Hey, forget about the quiz!" Leon said, snatching her paper and stuffing it into her backpack.

"Yeah!" Ingrid said, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "Let's go get some ice cream!"

"There's a good place I scouted out in downtown Vale," Yuan said.

"I think I'm gonna go back to the dorm," Lilly sighed, standing up with her backpack. The rest watched helplessly as she left the classroom.

"Hey, is everything all right with her?" Athena asked as the two teams linked up.

"She got a seventy-three," Leon said quietly.

"Shit, that's rough," Perseus said.

"Perhaps that is also why Echo left us in such a hurry," Xanthus said.

"What did the rest of you guys get?" Ingrid asked.

"Three hundreds," Perseus said.

"For Sparta," Leon said.

"That's not funny, man."

"What can we do for them?" Ingrid said.

—

Lilly stopped short of heading to the dorms. She stood at the edge of the manmade pond, staring at the marble knight statue in the center of the pool. She took a seat on the concrete, pulling her knees in close and resting her chin on top. There was something strangely familiar about this statue. She couldn't figure out what it was, but every time she passed by it on the way to classes, she would be filled with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen this statue somewhere before.

"Hey, you're Lilly Schnee, aren't you?" a familiar voice said from the side.

Lilly turned her head to face Penny. "Oh, you were our tour guide!"

Penny smiled as she neared her. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all!"

They sat side by side, facing the statue.

"I love this spot more than anywhere else," Penny said.

"Oh, right, I've been meaning to ask," Lilly said. "Because I noticed that you looked at the statue differently during our tour. You were explaining that it represented all of the soldiers who died in the Labyrinth War, but something tells me this statue means something much more personal to you."

"That's because it does," Penny said, also leaning her chin on top of her knees. "The statue's face is covered to represent the countless men and women who fought and died in that war, but the reason it's in the form of a knight is because..."

Her voice cut out abruptly. Lilly noticed tears forming in her eyes.

"Sorry," Penny said. "I didn't mean to make things awkward."

"No, not at all," Lilly said, scooting closer to her. "Talk to me."

"There was a man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else during that war. A true knight. And a gentleman. He was the hero of that war. He gave his life to keep the world safe." She sniffled, wiping away tears. "And you know what? This wasn't even his world."

"What do you mean?"

"He came here from another world. I believe it was magic that brought him here, to save us, to die for us." She wiped away more tears. "Hell, I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for him. He was the first person I made contact with after my own personal torment."

"Personal torment?"

Penny shook her head. "It's a long and complicated story. Just know that the man that this knight statue represents was a hero, through and through. He gave up everything for this world. And if...if he could see us now, he would be damn proud."

Lilly sighed heavily. "Somehow, I doubt that."

Penny turned to her.

"I can't even manage a passing grade. How the heck would I even qualify for the Knight Division?"

"This has to do with being a Schnee, doesn't it?"

Lilly shook her head. "I don't give a crap about the rest of my family. It's my mom. I don't wanna end up being a disappointment to her, you know?"

Penny smiled. "You're not a disappointment. And you'll never be. Unless you decide to go off and do drugs and party all night long every single day and waste your life."

She chuckled. "Still."

"You really shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. You're not your mom. And that came out totally wrong, but you really are not your mom. You're Lilly. And I think she would want you to be what _you_ were meant to be."

That's twice now that someone channeled her mother's plea.

"You need to spread your own wings and fly. You owe that to her. And to yourself."

"But, how do I do that?"

"How 'bout we go hit the track?"

"Exercise?"

Penny nodded as she stood up. "C'mon. The first thing you need to be good at if you wanna succeed as a Huntsman is physical fitness. How long does it take you to run a mile?"

Her eyes opened wide. "R-Run? A m-mile?"

Penny laughed. "Okay, let's go get you started."


	8. Chapter VIII

CHAPTER VIII

 _An Unlikely Pairing_

Echo was at the top of the CCTS tower, perched where there was no public access. From what she could tell, even janitors and maintenance crew rarely came up this high. But for her, this spot was perfect. The tower was so far up that she had a complete view of not just the campus, but all of Vale until the edge of the sea. Forever Fall was also visible from here, along with Emerald Forest and part of Mountain Glen.

She took a seat at the edge of the tower's roof, letting her feet dangle over the side. She reached into her backpack, pulling out her quiz.

 _62%_

That was far too low, low enough to warrant Professor Branwen calling her to his office after class. He had made her an offer, that he would be willing to overlook such a low score if she were able to pull off an excellent grade during the practical exercises during the following weeks. Fortunately for her, he was the kind of professor who did not care so much about book smarts as he did about one's ability on the field.

She stuffed the quiz back into her pack. Even if Professor Branwen was that lenient about the quizzes, it didn't change the fact that Beacon Academy required Huntsmen to be just as squared away on theories and principles as practical field skill.

Her scroll beeped and she looked at it. It was a group text message from her team.

Perseus: _Echo?_

Perseus: _Ecchhoooooo?_

Athena: _hey, we're a little worried about u_

Xanthus: _If you're upset about your grade, you should know that it doesn't matter to us what score you got._

Perseus: _dude wtf_

Athena: _don't mind him he's just a little more earnest than the rest of us_

Athena: _wru anyway?_

Athena: _Echo?_

Echo: _getting som air_

Athena: _ok. just know that we're on ur side, k?_

She pocketed her scroll before standing up, looking down the side of the tower. Before she jumped over the edge, a door behind her opened.

"I thought I heard something up here."

She turned around to face Headmaster Oscar Pine.

"Why don't you come inside and have some cocoa with me?"

She thought about it for a moment before accepting his invitation. Glynda was in the office with him.

"Your guess is correct, by the way," Oscar said, pouring a mug of cocoa for both of them. "This is most certainly about your grade. And don't worry, Qrow did not tattle on you. He and I share a trust that goes far back to before the Labyrinth War."

"We want you to know that your grade on the last quiz will not determine your future," Glynda said. "If a Huntsman's destiny were to be decided by a single foul-up in time, we would have no Huntsmen or Huntresses ever."

"On top of this," Oscar continued, "we did not accept your application because you were an academic genius. It was purely your practical skill that got you in. We've seen your performance in the woods. Your abilities with your staff/bow hybrid weapon are unmatched. Add to that your keen senses that rival those of a Faunus and your Semblance, which allows you to sense danger before it occurs, you are at a distinct advantage over your peers."

"We're not simply trying to flatter you, either," Glynda said. "We are trying to encourage you, to let you know that one failure is not the end of the world. You will have plenty of opportunities in the future to get your grade point average above a 2.5. Naturally, a minimum of 3.0 would be much more preferable, considering you are a member of one of the top two teams Beacon Academy has ever seen."

"So, that wasn't just bluster," Echo said quietly.

"What wasn't bluster?" Oscar asked.

"N-Nothing. I just...why me? Out of everyone, why did you let me in?"

"I already told you. It's your practical skill that's more valuable than your academic skills. Anyone can open a book and learn, but not everyone is born with the natural talents you possess, my dear."

She took a sip of the cocoa. It was quite bitter compared to what she was used to.

"I hope you enjoy 70% dark cocoa. It's much healthier than milk chocolate."

"It's different, that's all," she said, withholding the fact that this bitterness reminded her of Lilly's tastes in coffee.

"That's all the encouragement we have to give you, Echo Atalante. You should also know that you aren't the only one in your position. Lilly Schnee, the leader of your only rival team, also did not receive a passing grade on your quiz."

That was a surprise. Lilly always seemed to be the kind of girl who was good at everything. Or maybe she was thinking about Athena. She had gotten a perfect paper, after all.

"Penny is with her right now, helping her with physical fitness, which she certainly needs work on. I'm sure you two can find some common ground with each other, perhaps even help one another with your schoolwork and physical fitness."

She pulled up her scroll to send a message to Lilly.

Echo: _hey, u at the gym?_

Lilly: _track. y?_

Echo: _k. c u therr_

"Thank you, Headmaster Pine," Echo said with a slight bow.

"Echo," he said as she stopped at the elevator. She turned around. "Believe in yourself."

She gave him a single nod before getting on the lift.

"Do you think they'll all be ready in time?" Glynda asked Oscar.

"They will have to be," he said. "The threat that looms over us is unlike any we've faced before. I'm afraid the Labyrinth War was a mere precursor to that which draws near."

—

Lilly panted as she stooped over.

"That won't do," Penny said, stopping beside her. "Your lungs are constricting now. Stand up straight so you can get more air in."

Lilly stood up, folding her hands on top of her head. "This, is, really, tiring."

Penny chuckled. "Is this your first mile?"

"I didn't even know what a mile was until today!"

Echo joined them, already in track shoes and clothing.

"Oh, hey, Echo!" Lilly said, smiling at her.

"You trying to get some exercise in?" she asked.

" _Trying_ is the operative word here."

"She's actually doing great," Penny said. "You wanna take over?"

Echo shrugged.

"Okay. I'll rejoin you guys in a bit. I just need to report to the headmaster. Don't sweat too much!"

"Yeah!" Lilly panted. "No problem!"

"Were you doing the mile thing?" Echo asked her.

" _Trying_ to do the mile thing."

She giggled. "I'll run with you this time."

"Aw, man, I only got two minutes of rest!"

Lilly found it even more difficult to keep up with Echo than with Penny, though that was expected given that she was an experienced hunter who regularly worked alone. Echo also found that she needed to adjust. In spite of her fatigue, Lilly still had the energy to talk incessantly, mostly about nothing in particular, but Echo did notice a lot about her home life, particularly that she and her mother were very close.

She had grown up in the small town of Oasis, which was a two-hour drive from Atlas's capital city and the only place on the entire continent of Solitas that had temperate weather. Their house was not in the town proper, though. They lived in a small, two bedroom home at the outskirts. The nearest other building was at least a ten minute walk away.

"Let's slow down," Echo said.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to babble," Lilly said.

"No, I mean the running."

Echo dropped the pace to a mere walk, which she figured her partner would appreciate.

"Thanks," Lilly panted. "So. How did you do on the quiz?"

She didn't answer at first.

"I got a 73%. Which is below passing. So, yeah."

"62%," Echo said.

Lilly stopped walking. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. I didn't know anything about any of the stuff on the quiz. Only the survival portion."

"Oh. Well, that's the part that I bombed. And the parts about the Grimm. And aura. And Semblance."

"That's, like, the whole quiz."

"Yeah, I lucked out. Bubbled in the right ones with my guesses."

"That's a lot of luck."

She shrugged. "I would suggest you and me studying together, but I dunno if I would be much help to you."

"Well, I would definitely hold you back. My grade's the lowest in the class, I think."

"Nah, we'll be good. I think you can teach me the stuff I don't know and I can cover the stuff you don't know."

Echo thought about it for a bit. "I guess."

"Hey, we can get one of your perfect-scoring teammates to help us. My vote's with Athena, though. Xanthus is awkward and Perseus tries too hard."

Echo chuckled. Her assessment of her two teammates was spot on. "I'll talk to her about it later."

"Or," Penny said as she rejoined them, "I could tutor you guys."

"Don't you have classes to teach, though?" Lilly asked her.

"Nope. I'm an administrative assistant, doubling as a tutor."

"I always thought you were a full-time Huntress," Echo said.

"That, too, but I'm taking a leave for this school year to focus on the next generation. I figure I could add my own experience to the pool."

"You're really young to be a full-time Huntress _and_ faculty, though," Lilly said.

"How old do you think I am?"

She shrugged. "I'd say no older than us. Nineteen, maybe?"

"Turning twenty-one in a few months."

Lilly and Echo stared.

"Yep."

"Uh, when did you graduate?" Lilly said. "How young did you start?"

She didn't answer for a time. Echo could sense the hesitation in her body language and decided to change the subject.

"Are either of you guys thirsty?" Echo asked.

"Actually, yeah, my throat's dry from all the running," Lilly said.

"Smoothies?"

"Sure," Penny said.

"My treat, then."

Echo lagged behind as Lilly and Penny chatted while they strolled to the student life center to get smoothies at the only place on campus that served them. She noticed that Penny never brought up anything about her personal life. She seemed happy enough, but perhaps her smile was used to bury something underneath. Everyone had something to hide, something they kept concealed beneath too much bravado, too much glee, too much determination. Echo was aware of her own insecurity, which is why she spent much of her time away from her team.

It was true that she was part of a team now, at least on the surface. Athena and the others never failed to remind her that she was an integral member of their group. She wasn't just support. She was a comrade.

She wanted to believe that. She truly did. The problem was getting too close to people. Because, without a doubt, people leave. It doesn't matter the reason. They just do. Maybe the bonds wither away over time and they just disappear. Or maybe something far more tragic happens and they're abruptly taken. They get sick and die. The Grimm come and steal them away.

It simply hurts less when the roots don't go too far down. That way, half of one's heart isn't completely ripped out when the inevitable happens. If Echo could just keep everyone at a safe distance, she wouldn't die all over again just like when Nerida failed to come home one day from a perimeter check.

"Hey!" Lilly said. "You're staring off into space!"

Echo blinked a number of times as Lilly's bright smile registered in her vision. Her soft, hazel eyes were like the sun, washing away all of the darkness that enveloped Echo's heart. She felt something stir deep within, something she thought had died a long time ago.

It was the fire of life itself.

"Okay, we're up!" Lilly said, walking up to the counter. "I'll have a mango smoothie, please!"

"Kiwi-orange smoothie for me, please," Penny said.

"Echo?"

"Oh, uh," she stammered. "I-I'll have..." She seriously had no idea what to pick since there were no smoothies in the village where she grew up. "Um, what do you recommend, Lilly?"

"Okay, she's gonna have mango," Lilly said to the cashier before turning back to Echo. "We're gonna be twinners today, 'kay?"

She reddened as she nodded. She didn't know exactly what "twinners" meant, but she surmised it had something to do with the words "twin" and "winners."

They sat at a table outside while their drinks were being made. Echo took the time to admire both her companions. Lilly had cut her hair a week ago, but this was the first time she wore it up. Owing to the layered cut, a number of locks hung down either side of her face, bordering her bright smile with equally bright snow. The powder-blue bow tying her short, platinum ponytail together was the perfect touch to the rest of her white and blue outfit. She didn't dress as casually as when they first met either. Nowadays, it was semi-formal shirts and blue skirts with a coat on top left unbuttoned and white and blue calf-high or knee-high heeled boots. Slowly, but surely, she was starting to show her Schnee side, although none of the haughtiness was there. It was more along the lines of pure enjoyment of life.

Penny, on the other hand, was quite the lady. She had a free spirit similar to what Lilly possessed, though there was definitely a lot more baggage hidden underneath her emerald eyes. As always, her auburn hair was worn in a high ponytail, bangs swept to the right side to border her face. She wore a white and orange halter top today, showcasing her well-defined shoulder and arm muscles, definitely belonging to a seasoned Huntress.

"Oh, our drinks are ready!" Lilly said, springing up from her chair to run inside and grab their smoothies.

"She has a lot of energy, doesn't she?" Penny said.

Echo smiled, looking shyly down at the table. Of the three girls on campus she was close to, Penny was one she could fall for, the happy medium between the too-adorable Lilly and the too-perfect Athena. A student-faculty relationship was probably against the rules, though.

"So," Penny began, leaning forward against the table as she crossed her legs. "Why Beacon?"

"Huh?" Echo said.

"Why this academy instead of any of the others?"

She shrugged. "It was the closest, I guess."

"You're from neutral territory, right?"

She nodded. "A small village. Far to the south of here."

"Hmm. I think I've heard of the place."

"You're gonna like this!" Lilly said, setting down Echo's mango smoothie in front of her.

She had a sip of the drink. Tropical flavors splashed inside her mouth. It was the first time she had ever tasted a fruit so lively. The mixture between tangy and sweet was ideal.

"This is good," Echo said, her eyes wide.

"Toldya!" Lilly said.

"Mmm," Penny said as she sipped on her straw. "Maybe I shoulda gotten kiwi only."

"I'll let you try some if you let me!"

Penny chuckled as they temporarily switched drinks. "Wow. The mango is great!"

"So, does that mean we're switching permanently? Cuz this kiwi-orange thing is super!"

"Nah-uh. Gimme back my drink."

Lilly frowned as they exchanged back.

"Wanna try some?" Penny offered Echo, who shrugged as she accepted. She couldn't believe the explosion of flavors. "Good?"

She nodded quickly.

"Kiwis are the best."

"They go with your eyes, too!" Lilly said.

"The inside does, anyway. The outside goes better with your eyes."

They shared a high five.

"Listen," Penny began, setting her drink down on the table. "If you guys want my help, I'm offering. Grades aren't as important to the higher-ups as field performance is, but you still need to have a 2.5 minimum so you don't fail out. It's not so much a measure of your academic ability, but your determination to stay in the program. If you want it bad enough, you'll get the grades you need."

"Yes," Lilly said. "Yes, please. We really, really, really need all the help we can get."

"Me more than you," Echo said.

"I told you it was pure luck I got a score that high! I should've gotten a zero!"

"All right, let's start small," Penny said. "What is a Grimm?"

"A, uh, monster?" Lilly said.

"More specific than that."

"A creature of darkness?" Echo said.

"You're both close. The Creatures of Grimm are essentially the physical embodiment of destruction. They've been around since the dawn of human history, seeking to destroy humankind and everything related to us. Even statues will fall prey to the Grimm. As long as it's manmade, it will be a target."

"Where did they come from?" Lilly asked.

"Okay, this information isn't gonna be in any of your textbooks, or, naturally, any of your exams, but legend holds that the Grimm were created by one of the two primordial gods of our world, the God of Destruction. He created them for the sole purpose of destroying the things made by his brother, the God of Creation."

"Why?"

Penny shrugged. "How should I know how a god thinks? Anyway, what other things are important to know about the Grimm?"

"Oh, I think I read something about how they don't have auras?" Lilly said.

"I remember reading something like they're attracted to negativity," Echo said.

"Those are both correct," Penny said. "In addition, places that hold a significant amount of negative energy, such as a battlefield, a mass grave, a site of horrific history, these places will also attract the Grimm."

"Almost like it's being haunted," Echo said.

"Yup. There are many types of Grimm, some that resemble animals, and others that resemble nothing that's ever existed. However, out of all the types of Grimm out there, the one you must know inside and out is the Omega Grimm, with the Skinwalkers taking a very close second."

"S-Skinwalkers?" Lilly said.

"Yes. These wretched Grimm are capable of parasitizing a host and taking over their body completely."

"A human host?" Echo said.

She nodded. "They're the most dangerous of all. A single Skinwalker can destroy an entire village without anyone even noticing anything is wrong. But the Omegas are by far the most frightening. These are the only Grimm that produce an aura."

"Wait," Lilly said. "That means they have..."

"That's right. They have souls."

"But everything we know about them says they shouldn't," Echo said.

"This was an unfortunate consequence of the Labyrinth War," Penny said. "The forces of darkness, led by Salem, managed to trap souls within these Grimm, thus granting them unrivaled intelligence, the ability to produce a defensive aura, and the ability to use Dust. But the most frightening thing about them is that they have the power to command other Grimm."

"So much for them being mindless."

"These are, by far, the only ones we have seen with these traits. Grimm do get smarter over time, but not to this extent. The Omega Grimm are capable of overriding their impulse to destroy humanity in order to prepare for much more effective tactics and strategies."

"Why haven't we heard of these?" Lilly said, flipping through a textbook. "The Omega isn't even listed in here."

"Because we haven't seen them since the Labyrinth War," Penny answered. "We know they existed, and we know it's possible for them to exist, but ever since Salem was sealed away, they haven't been seen."

Lilly looked down at the table. She knew what Grimm were, but nothing as terrifying as the Skinwalkers and the Omegas.

"We're getting carried away," Penny said. "I don't wanna overload you guys with stuff you don't even need to know. Let's do a quick quiz so I know where you guys are situated with your knowledge."


	9. Chapter IX

CHAPTER IX

 _One Team_

Echo and Lilly spent more time together than with their own teams. Even though the others had more than once offered to study with them, they both knew that they would only weigh them down, and that wasn't something either was willing to do. Lilly simply didn't have the heart and Echo had a modicum of pride left in her.

"Okay," Qrow said to his class. "I know you guys are eager to get your quizzes, but it's the end of the second week already and it's time to announce your class's pick for president. By a landslide, your year's class president is Xanthus Xenon."

Applause sounded throughout the classroom. Xanthus stood up and bowed.

"I swear, by my honor, that I will do my best as your representative!" he said to the class, inciting more cheering from the students.

Perseus's campaign had been a great success, boosting not only Xanthus's popularity among their class of thirty-two, the smallest Beacon had ever seen, but even among the upperclassmen. Of course, Perseus himself did not go away from the campaign empty-handed. His own popularity jumped through the roof after his feat. The Jupiter name was now just as well-known as the Schnee name, perhaps even more so given their current rise to economic power.

"It was all thanks to you, my good friend," Xanthus said to Perseus as he sat back down.

"All I did was spread information about you," Perseus replied. "You won of your own merit."

"Hey, congratulations, man," another student approached their group.

Xanthus looked up over his glasses to see Paolo Mancini, leader of Team PDTR. In the two weeks since school began, this team was one of the few among the first-year students to rival the performance of Team APEX. True to their name, all four members certainly acted like predators on the battlefield. They were well-mannered enough, but each and every single member had ambition like no other, but despite that fact, they were incredible teammates. Had it not been for Team APEX's mostly stellar grades, Team PDTR could easily usurp the top spot from them.

"I appreciate the kind words, Paolo," Xanthus said, standing up to shake his hand.

"Hey, so we'll see you guys on Monday in Forever Fall, right?" said Demetri, their second-in-command.

"You guys are in the same group?" Athena said, standing beside Xanthus to back him up.

"It's on the class bulletin," said Theo, the third member of Team PDTR. "They just stuck us with Team LILY, Team ORNJ, and you guys. I guess they figure the best should be around the best."

"Although Team ORNJ being part of the 'best' is stretching it," said Raiden, the last member of the team.

"That's a bit unnecessary," Athena said.

"And dickish," Perseus added.

"He's just saying the truth," Paolo said. "Anyway, good luck on your quizzes."

They watched as Team PDTR returned to their desks.

"Too bad they aren't called Team CUNT," Perseus said, making Echo chuckle to herself.

"Thank you," Xanthus said to Athena and Perseus. "I appreciate you coming to my aid."

"That's what teammates are for, right?" Athena said.

"Perseus, would you mind being my VP? I'd like to ask Athena, but she has her hands full with our team already."

"Oh, so I'm your second choice?" Perseus said, to which Xanthus reddened without replying. "I'm just bustin' your balls, man. I'll be your second, brother."

"Thank you."

They all turned to Echo, who was fiddling with her pencil as Qrow neared them with the scored quizzes in his hand. He set hers down first.

"You've shown enormous improvement in just a week," he said quietly to her. "That's good. But you've still got a ways to go."

She nodded before looking down at her paper. 71%. It still wasn't passing, but it was significantly better than the 62% she managed last time. She glanced over at Lilly, who was just as anxious as she was. The rest of her own team gathered around.

"How'd you do?" Perseus asked.

"Better than before," Echo said, turning her paper to them.

"Shit. From a sixty-two to a seventy-one. Not bad."

Xanthus began crying as he looked at his score.

"This asshole probably got a hundred again," Athena said, looking over at his paper. "Yeah. Asshole."

"This is gonna be a weekly thing, isn't it?" Perseus sighed before looking at his own paper. "Ninety-friggin'-three. Great. There goes my streak."

"Two quizzes is hardly a streak," Athena chuckled. "Well. I got 96%. It's up to you, Mr. President. You need to score perfectly until the end of time."

"I will do my best!" he said through tears, making the rest of his team sigh.

" _What_?" Lilly shrieked.

Her team turned to her as she started crying.

"How could my grade go _down_?"

Ingrid peeked over. "Yeesh," she said. "Sixty?"

She buried her head in her arms on the desk, sobbing quietly to herself.

Ingrid rubbed her back. "If it makes you feel any better," she said, "my grade went down, too."

"I bet you're still passing, though," Lilly's muffled voice made it through her arms.

"Well, yeah. But 80% is much lower than what I got last time."

"It's still better than 60%!"

Ingrid held her tongue. At this point, anything she could say would only backfire. Leon and Yuan were gonna join in the consoling when Echo walked past them, placing a hand on Lilly's shoulder as she sat next to her.

"Wanna hit the library?" she said.

Lilly turned her head to the left, wiping her face with her fingers. Echo had a smile on her face, quite a rare sight indeed. Her light green, hazel eyes were no longer aloof to Lilly. Instead, it was as though they were inviting her right in.

"Sure," Lilly said, sniffling.

"Let's all go together," Athena said, throwing her golden ponytail over her shoulder. "I know you two probably don't wanna feel like you're weighing the rest of us down, and I respect that, but what kind of team would we be if we didn't prop each other up?"

"But I'm not even on your team," Lilly said to her.

"Yes, you are. You don't remember what Headmaster Pine said? 'All of you are one team.' And I intend to take that seriously."

Lilly glanced around at the rest of her group, who were looking to her. Even though Athena commanded everyone's attention right this moment, Ingrid, Leon, and Yuan were waiting on her, not on Athena. Her rival team leader was stepping up to the plate right this moment. She had to do something to make herself worth being called leader of Team LILY.

She stood up, nodding to Athena. "Let's go," she said with confidence.

—

Qrow was on his way to his office when he ran into Oscar and Glynda.

"Oh, hey, Oz, Miss Still-Beautiful-After-All-These-Years," Qrow said.

Glynda rolled her eyes.

"I'm being sincere!"

"Anyway," she began, "we came to speak to you about two of your students."

"Lilly and Echo, right?"

"That is correct," Oscar said.

"Let's head to my office, then," he said, leading the way and shutting the door behind him. "You wanna talk about their grades? Cuz you know I think the way you do, right? I ain't gonna fail them just because they bombed a few quizzes at the beginning of class."

"That's not what we were going to discuss," Oscar said. "As you have just commented, you think similarly, and so that is not a concern of ours."

"It's the practical exercise coming up next week," Glynda said. "There is a certain scenario we have set up for our star students."

"Ah, so you do consider Team LILY and APEX as the special ones," Qrow said. "I mean, yeah, sure, I do play favorites all the time with Leon and Athena in class."

"Meaning you pick on them regularly."

He shrugged. "I dunno who's making these accusations, but I deny them all."

"Team PDTR is also extremely talented," Oscar said, "but they don't have the correct personality for the task we need them for. They'll be great for our front lines especially with how ruthless they have proven to be."

"What's the special task?"

"It'll be on Thursday, during the independent, unsupervised exercise."

"The Forever Fall independent patrol."

"That's right. They'll be the only group we will supervise, but in secret."

"I think I know what you're getting at. I'll set up the scenario with Penny."

"She already has the basic layout of the plan," Glynda said, "but we'll leave the details to the both of you."

"This'll be exciting," Qrow snickered.

—

"Okay, that's all the studying we'll be able to actually remember," Athena said, closing her textbook. "Let's do a quick quiz."

"I shall be the one to administer this examination!" Xanthus said, standing up with his book in hand.

"You're the only one qualified, so go for it," Perseus said.

"Lilly!"

"Yes!" she replied just as enthusiastically.

"Label these Grimm!" Xanthus said as he turned the book around to show her a page with four different kinds of Grimm.

"Uhh, umm, the top left one is a Creep, the one to the bottom right is a Beowolf, and...top right is a Boarbatusk, bottom left is...an Ursa!"

"Correct!"

Applause circled around the study room.

"Echo!"

"Yessir?" she said.

"What is the primary limitation of a Semblance inherent to its usage?"

She sat in thought for a moment. "It uses up your aura. Depending on how your Semblance functions, you may have to keep an eye on your own aura levels, especially for those with a more active Semblance like your own and Athena's."

"Correct! Now, how long does it usually take for one's aura to fully regenerate after being broken? This question is for anyone who wants to answer."

"That depends on your own personal stamina," Leon said. "If you've trained well enough, your aura can recover as quickly as a few seconds after it gets knocked out. Otherwise, it could take a whole minute, or even longer without the right training."

"That's why we run laps and stuff at the gym," Ingrid said. "At least, if we're not at that level already."

"That is correct," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Speaking of that, I need to hit the gym myself. I've gotten used to moderating my Semblance, but if I actually needed to use it, I would be completely vulnerable for far too long."

"How long do you take to recover your aura?" Athena asked him.

"Without using the overdrive function of my Semblance, roughly thirty seconds if it gets knocked out completely. Double that if I overdrive, triple if I use double overdrive."

"Yeah, that's not good. A whole minute and a half without your aura means death on a real battlefield. What's yours, Perseus?"

"Ten seconds," he said.

"That's not a surprise. Echo?"

She shrugged. "I've never gotten my aura knocked out before."

"Oh, right. Your Semblance is basically your primary defense." She glanced over at Lilly, who made eye contact with her.

In the span of about half a second, Lilly wondered what Athena's look meant. Did she want an answer from her, too? No, that couldn't be it. She would have verbally asked just like she did with the rest of her team.

Her team.

Team.

 _Right!_

"What about you guys?" Lilly asked, turning to Ingrid first. Athena could not hold back the smile.

"Oh, um, fifteen seconds for me," said the only Faunus between the two teams.

"Twenty seconds," Leon said.

"Five seconds," Yuan said, to which everyone stared wide-eyed. "What?"

"You can recover your aura in five seconds?" Athena gawked.

He nodded.

"Bullshit!" Perseus said. "No one can recover their aura that quickly!"

"He can," Xanthus said.

They all turned to him.

"Yuan Ren was well-known throughout Sanctum as the guy who could bend his aura to his will."

"What does that mean?" Ingrid asked Yuan.

"That's my Semblance," he said. "I can do what I want with my aura."

"Wait, how come we don't know about this?" Leon said.

"You guys never asked."

"Oh, ha, ha, that's super funny, bro."

"I'm serious."

"Well, now we have to see this in action," Athena said.

"I can do a quick sample right now."

"Do it," Leon said.

"Perseus, you can take a hard hit, can't you?"

"Of course I can," he said.

"Bring up your shield."

"Like this?"

Without another word, Yuan thrust his palm out at Perseus's shield, projecting some invisible force that shook the room and pushed him back a few feet.

"Holy shit," Leon and Ingrid said at the same time before glaring at each other.

"Jinx!" Leon said. "You owe me a soda!"

"Screw you," Ingrid said.

"Did you just hit me with your aura?" Perseus said.

"That's right," Yuan said. "I can also extend it outward to create a shield, form it into spears, and other things. Of course, all of that depletes it, so I don't do it too often."

"What a versatile Semblance," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "I'm already imagining all the tactical situations it could be useful in. Anyway, I need to go meet with the student council. I'll see all of you later?"

"The rest of us," Athena began, "laps around the track?"

"Lilly does need the exercise," Ingrid said.

"Hey!" she whined before following the group.


	10. Chapter X

CHAPTER X

 _Untainted Flower_

It was still dark out when Lilly awoke. She yawned, staring up at the ceiling for a bit. She closed her eyes to try and get back to sleep, but it was no use. She swung her legs over the side of her bed, hopping down to the ground as quietly as she could. She wasn't as agile as Ingrid was, but she was getting good enough to not make the loudest thud in the world on the carpet. She was in the middle of grabbing clothes from her dresser when she realized how quiet it was in the room. She looked around. All of the other beds were empty.

"Huh?" she said aloud, switching on the lights. "Oh. Right. The party."

Lilly had been the first of her team to leave last night's party at the third year class's dormitory. The bash was put together by Team SQRL, the top-ranked third-year team, who meant for it to be a celebration of the newest students' survival of the first two weeks of classes, but it quickly got uncomfortable for the only snow-white-haired girl in the building. It was clear that there would be no way for her to escape her family's name.

She hadn't been the only one forced to attend the party by her friends, though. There was one other girl she had tried to make friends with, the only one who didn't seem to know, or perhaps care, that she was a Schnee. Mizuki was her name. She had stood out to Lilly not because she spent her time away from the rest of the crowd, but because of the fact that she wore a perpetual gloom, as if she could never be happy. That didn't sit well with Lilly, but the girl had refused to open up to her any more than that.

Lilly sighed as she changed into a pair of black jeans and boots, wearing her blue shirt un-tucked with the highest button left undone. She threw on her team coat, the white and pale blue one they had picked out together, before leaving the room. She stepped out of the building. Campus was nearly silent, save for the blowing of the wind. The world was still asleep this early in the morning. The light above her flickered for a few seconds before returning to a steady glow.

 _That was weird,_ she thought as she made her way toward the quad to visit the knight statue.

She looked at the marble for a while, admiring the strong posture with which it stood. She found herself smiling. Whoever it was this statue represented, he must have been a great person to have fought alongside.

Something was strange. It was much too quiet out, even if it was only five o'clock in the morning. There were no crickets chirping, no fluttering of wings in the sky, no bird calls, nothing. It was as though the entire world was asleep.

She turned around. There was no one there. She walked toward the west quadrant, where the administration center and main hall stood. She passed by the empty amphitheater and walked into the building.

Empty. Just like the rest of the world.

 _Where is everyone?_

She decided to head back to the dorms. Something wasn't right. The first thing she needed to do was find her team. It was bad enough that she had left Myrtenaster in her room, but the worst part was being separated from her comrades.

A chill ran up and down her spine as she neared the south quadrant. Something was there, something she could not identify. She pressed herself up against a wall, peeking around the corner. There was someone headed into one of the dorms. A student, maybe, but something was odd.

Lilly quickly followed after the shadow, but when she entered through the same door, it was gone. She looked left and right. Empty. Not even footsteps or the opening of doors or windows. She stood absolutely still. This building was as empty as the rest.

Her hands were shaking now, knees about to give way. She backed away toward the doors and exited the building, finding herself out on the walkways between dormitories. Her head was on a swivel as she scanned her surroundings for signs of any kind of life.

Her pace quickened before she broke into a light jog. The CCTS tower was a place that never slept, its systems constantly maintained by workers and staff and guarded 24/7, but tonight it was as empty as the rest of campus.

"Hello?" she yelled as she walked back into the quad. "Is anyone out there? In retrospect, yelling across campus without knowing what's around me is probably a terrible idea, but what the heck?"

Footsteps came from behind her. They were uneven and labored. She slowly turned around to face the thing approaching her. It looked human on the outside, but with the lights behind silhouetting it, she couldn't make out any features. One thing was for certain, though. The way it moved and writhed as though it were in pain gave her chills.

She stepped back as it continued to approach her. Its arms attempted to flail about, but it appeared to be stuck in a straitjacket of its own skin. Lilly found her breathing increase in pace as she continued to retreat. She screamed as she backed into someone.

"Whoa!" Leon's voice sounded through the void as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Lilly, are you all right?"

"Leon!" she yelled, throwing her arms around him. "Ohmygod it's just you thank goodness ohmygod ohmygod!"

He chuckled. "Hey, slow down."

"No! I can't slow down! Not with that thing over there!"

"What thing?"

She turned around to point at the shadowy figure, but all that was there was a gardener, tending to the flowers and bushes. She looked around. There were people scattered about the walkways, headed back to their respective dorms.

"Um, Lilly?" Leon said again.

She turned back around, spotting Ingrid and Yuan joining them along with Team APEX sans Echo.

"Oh, you're awake," Ingrid said. "I thought you were headed back to sleep."

Lilly didn't answer, looking all around in confusion. Seconds ago, the entire campus was silent, but now there were students and staff everywhere.

"Is something the matter?" Yuan asked her.

"Huh?" she said, turning to him as he and the rest joined them. "N-No, nothing's the matter. I just..."

She wasn't sleepwalking, she knew that much for sure. So, then, what was that just now?

"You look pale," Xanthus said.

"Dude, that's her normal skin color," Perseus chuckled.

"I mean that figuratively. Did something happen?"

Lilly shook her head. She couldn't very well tell them that she had been hallucinating. And from the way they were all acting, they clearly did not see the same things she saw just now.

"I, uh, I just came out to get some fresh air," she lied.

"Can't sleep?" Athena asked her.

"Just thinking about the practical exercises coming up on Monday, that's all."

"Speaking of which, are you guys ready for that?" Leon said.

"Damn right we are," Perseus said. "The one on Thursday's gonna be the big one, though. Think you guys can handle a solo patrol?"

"I think we're ready," Yuan said.

"I agree," Ingrid said.

Leon yawned and stretched. "Man, it's a good thing it's only Sunday. We get to sleep in."

"For once, I agree with you, little brother," Athena said.

"You always have to tack on that 'little' part, huh? Even though you're only two minutes older than me?"

"You're still technically my little brother," she said with a grin.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Lilly couldn't help the giggle. "Hey, where's Echo?" she said.

"Probably off sleeping," Perseus said. "She's not exactly a partygoer, if you haven't noticed. She left way before you did, don't you remember?"

—

The sun had just peeked over the horizon when Echo headed back to Beacon Academy. She had just completed mapping out Forever Fall, the red forest where their most important task to date would take place. Tomorrow would see them on an excursion with a segment of their class to collect tree sap. Professor Branwen himself would be with them, but they were all expected to be able to take care of any problems that would arise.

Echo may not have attended any primary combat schools, but she had an almost instinctual sense for these kinds of situations. Although, in this particular case, she needed to rethink her strategies. As a solo hunter, she would always opt to flee rather than fight, but with a team backing her up, she no longer had to run away.

Just like on that day, the first time she had met her partner, Athena Rose, and fought alongside her and what would later become Team APEX and Team LILY. She had to admit that even she was beginning to feel eager to fight beside them again. Having a team, people she could depend on, was incredibly refreshing. She, too, made it a point to be dependable. She could never let these people down. That was the last thing she would ever want to do.

"You're back later than usual."

Echo turned around to face Ingrid, Team LILY's equally stealthy counterpart.

"I take it you've already scouted out all of Forever Fall?"

She nodded. "Are you headed that way, too?"

"Nah. I've seen the place more than once. It's my mom's favorite hangout spot. We went there every time the family came out to Vale to come visit me on Patch while I was still going to Signal. We can compare notes if you want. Did you check out the ruins?"

She nodded. "There aren't as many Grimm out there as the Emerald Forest, surprisingly enough."

"Mom tells me the last war ended up with nearly all of the Grimm getting wiped out. You wanna grab some coffee?"

"Did your team captain get you addicted to the stuff?" Echo said as she led the way to the campus café.

Ingrid chuckled, walking beside her. "Almost. I still drink mine with assloads of sugar and cream. She calls it blasphemy."

"I'm not a coffee drinker at all."

"So, why do you drink it, then?"

She shrugged.

"You have a thing for our leader, don't you?"

Echo didn't respond, but she felt her face warm up.

"And _your_ leader."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not really. I just pick up on these things. I grew up with four sisters and a brother."

"Yeah, but none of your sisters were into girls, were they?"

"Nadine is. The youngest of my triplet sisters. We all knew it from the start." Ingrid paused for a moment. "You're not into _me_ , are you?"

"No."

"Okay, good, cuz I wasn't sensing that and I thought I screwed up. Besides, I don't think I fit your type, do I?"

Echo shook her head.

"Your type is the strong, diligent, driven type. Like Athena and Penny. But Lilly doesn't fit that mold."

"She's just...I dunno. I mean, have you ever seen her not smiling?"

"I have, actually."

"Still. Do you ever find yourself hating her?"

"Nope. I don't think it's possible to hate Lilly. You'd have to be a genuine asshole to hate a person like her."

"I appreciate that you're referring to her in a gender-neutral way."

"Hey, I keep up with the latest sensibilities. And besides, I grew up with a sister who wasn't 'normal,' so I learned to adapt. Protecting my younger siblings is of the highest priority for me. Even among our fellow Faunus growing up on Menagerie, Nadine was a bit of an outsider. Just because of her preference. I never got that, either. It's like, why the hell would you ostracize someone for who they're attracted to?"

"People are just people, I guess."

"Screw that. My parents didn't go through hell and back in the last war just so people could continue on hating each other."

Echo ordered her coffee black, the same way Lilly always got her coffee, with beans from Menagerie and Patch ground together. She still couldn't get used to the bitterness, but it was also impossible to ignore the mild sweetness that occurred naturally in this blend.

"Yeah, I can't possibly drink it like that," Ingrid said, taking a seat with Echo at a table outside.

Campus was starting to get busy this early in the morning and they watched as students headed to the library, the training halls, and the gym and track. Even on a Sunday, students remained as busy as ever. Most of them were probably upperclassmen, people who had much more strenuous schedules. First-year students were likely still sleeping in, preparing for tomorrow's excursion to Forever Fall.

One of the students who stood out to them in particular was Mizuki, the girl from the party, the one who had been forced to attend with the rest of her team. She had spent the entire night isolated from everyone else, choosing to read for classes rather than mingle and have fun. Both Ingrid and Echo had noticed that it was more than social isolation, though. She had a depressing air about her, as if whatever it was that bothered her went beyond a mere slump. Reading her text books might have been a way of coping with whatever that was.

"I wonder what's eating her," Ingrid said.

"Maybe it's a fourth-year thing," Echo said.

She chuckled. "I mean, yeah, the fourth-years all look stressed out of their minds, but that girl looks more depressed than anything."

Echo shrugged.

"So," Ingrid said, turning to her companion. "Do you have siblings?"

"Two older brothers," Echo said after sipping and setting her cup down.

"Oooh, that couldn't have been fun."

"It was a challenge. I kinda have them to thank for how I grew up."

"They pick on you a lot?"

"No, not really. But they did help me figure out that I could never match them in strength, so I made up for it with speed and stealth."

"That's kinda like how it is with the Grimm."

Echo nodded, taking another sip. "So, why'd you come to Beacon?"

"To become a Huntress," Ingrid said without hesitation. "My mom and dad participated in the Labyrinth War. It's my job as the eldest child to take up that mantle so my younger siblings won't have to."

"That's...a heavy burden."

"Depends how you look at it, I guess. I've pretty much been training for this my whole life. Even as a little girl, mom and dad helped me on my path to achieve my dream. They even let me attend Signal Academy with Athena and Leon since we don't have our own academy on Menagerie."

"What are their stories? The twins, I mean. You've known them since Signal, right?"

"Athena's pretty much the golden girl of Vale. Her skill put together with her Semblance gives her what it takes to overcome pretty much anything. In a one-on-one fight, she's never been beaten. On a team, she's unstoppable."

"What about her brother?"

"Leon's an idiot, that's what he is."

Echo chuckled. "Sounds like you're in love with him."

Ingrid coughed as she drank, spilling some of her coffee. "The hell I do!"

"You just said 'I do'."

"Since when did you get all talkative, huh?"

Echo snickered softly to herself. "I think he has a thing for you."

"Psh. He has a thing for _every girl_ he sees. Even you, you know. He's just never made a move on you because he figures he'd never get a reaction."

"He already did, actually."

"Oh, great. I do apologize for him, by the way. What did you say?"

"I told him I was interested in his sister."

Ingrid laughed. "And how did he react?"

"His jaw dropped and he stared at me for a while expecting me to say that I was joking, and when I didn't, he started laughing ironically as he walked away mumbling to himself."

"That sounds about right. Have _you_ made a move on her, by the way? I mean, she _is_ your partner."

Echo shrugged.

"Intimidated by her?"

She didn't answer.

"I mean, I get it. _I_ find her intimidating. Always have. She's a great person, but jeez, that alpha female personality can get really heavy."

"I don't wanna say she's intimidating, it's just...I dunno. I get all shy when I'm around her."

"Cuz you like her and you don't wanna screw up around her."

"Yeah, I guess."

"What about Lilly? She's the total opposite of Athena."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Really?"

Echo nodded. "Lilly has drive, too. She's not a complete overachiever like Athena is, but she has the motivation to surpass everybody. She just needs her shot."

Ingrid couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. That's kinda the unspoken agreement I have with Leon and Yuan. We all see her potential. Plus, there's the fact that she single-handedly created Beacon's first eight-member team."

"Should we start calling ourselves Team APEXLILY?"

"Psh. Everybody knows Team LILY comes first."

They shared a chuckle.

"What do you think of the two boys on your team?" Echo asked.

"I hate Leon," Ingrid said.

"So you love him."

"Stop that! Ugh, I'm getting the chills just thinking about that!"

She chuckled. "What about Yuan?"

"He's a great team member."

"So, you love him, too."

"Why do you keep saying that about them?" Ingrid practically yelled.

"Well, you cling to Yuan a lot."

She reddened. What Echo was saying wasn't untrue. Lilly was technically her partner, but she did spend more time around Yuan than with her. But that couldn't be totally her fault. After all, Lilly was with Echo and Penny more than anybody else.

"I blame you!" Ingrid said.

"Why me?" Echo chuckled.

"You stole my partner away! Speaking of which, have you made a move on _her_?"

She shook her head. "It's different with her. She's...I feel like, like I shouldn't get near her, you know?"

"She's the pure white flower that should never be picked."

"That's a surprisingly accurate way of putting it. Poetic, too."

"Lilly's the symbol of the purity that we can never let die."

"Yeah. I know Athena feels the same way. So do Perseus and Xanthus. It's kinda the reason we stick around with you guys so much."

"She really does have that effect on people, huh? I guess that's kinda expected when you have a smile for everybody you meet."

Echo caught herself smiling. The very first time they had met face to face was in the big common room in the dormitory. Their first interaction was a handshake and Lilly giving her a smile that seemed to brighten up everything around her.

"That energy, too," Ingrid sighed. "I'm surprised you don't get drained by it."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," Echo said. "But...I mean, it's also refreshing."

"I know what you mean. Leon's energy is friggin' exhausting, but hers is different."

"You're talking about Leon again. Are you sure you don't like him?"

"I _hate_ him!"

Echo chuckled. "If you say so."

—

"Ow, shit," Leon said.

"What's wrong?" Perseus asked him.

"Nothing. I just bit my tongue."

"I think someone is gossiping about you," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"Psh. Girls are _always_ talkin' about me."

Yuan chuckled quietly.

"Oh, this looks good," Perseus said, holding up a fancy coat.

"Man, you really do come from a rich family," Leon said.

"Not by choice. I kinda have to know this kind of shit to survive where I come from."

"That must suck ass."

"You have no idea. Anyway, you guys have any thought what you're gonna wear to Winter Formal?"

"I haven't even asked a girl to that dance yet let alone picked out an outfit."

"You don't mind if I ask your sister to the dance, do you?"

"I mean, she's her own woman. She doesn't need my permission. But I do appreciate you asking me. Good luck, though."

"I intend to ask her as friends, not as anything more than that. I don't like team dynamics getting complicated."

"What about you?" Leon asked Xanthus. "Who you gonna ask?"

"Honestly, I was hoping all eight of us could just go as one big group," he said.

"Spoken like a true class president," Perseus said. "I like that idea." He turned to Leon. "I'm still asking your sister to be my dance partner, though."

"Like I said, man, you're both consenting adults," he said.

They all turned to Yuan, who was examining a suit he would never be able to afford.

"C'mon, man," Perseus said, resting an arm on his shoulder. "Who you crushin' on?"

He shrugged. "I don't really have the time to think about that kind of stuff."

"You're no fun. What about your team leader?"

"She's cute."

"Oh? How's about your cat Faunus teammate? She's real cute, too, ain't she?"

"She's pretty."

"Whoa! Lilly's cute, but Ingrid is pretty, huh? I mean, I do agree with you, but whoa, that honesty. You're gonna have to work on that, though, cuz she and Leon have history, ya know what I mean?"

"Bro," Leon said dryly. "I may screw around with her all the time, but no."

"Sounds like you love her," Xanthus said, idly checking out clothing.

"What the f—never mind. I'm gonna go do what I was supposed to do an hour ago."

"What?" Perseus said. "Confess your feelings to your childhood sweetheart?"

Leon tripped over a shoe rack and fell right onto the floor. He got up, quickly dusting himself off, extending a middle finger to the other guys, and headed out of the store without looking back at them.

"Yeah, man," Perseus said to Yuan. "If you do like Ingrid, you're gonna have some competition."

"As I said," Yuan began, "I don't have the time to nurture any kind of relationship."

"God, you're like Xanthus, only less dramatic. You guys really are from Mistral, friggin' overachievers."


	11. Chapter XI

CHAPTER XI

 _Forever Unfallen_

"Okay, remember to stick together," Qrow said as he led the excursion to Forever Fall along with Penny, his administrative assistant.

"You don't wanna get eaten by a giant Ursa!" Penny added.

"So, our objective is to collect this, uh, sap?" Leon said.

"Mm-hmm!"

"Does it taste good?"

"Not sure. I've never tried some."

"I'll report back to you, then."

She giggled. "Try not to attract too many bugs with your escapades, Leon."

He winked before heading in another direction with Team LILY.

"You try too hard," Ingrid said.

"Psh, you don't try hard enough," Leon said.

"The hell is that even supposed to mean?"

"This looks like a good one!" Lilly said as she ran to the base of a large tree, looking up at the red leaves covering the branches. "Ohh, it's so pretty!"

"So, hey," Leon said, crossing his arms and leaning against the tree to face her. "What's a pretty girl like you doing under a pretty tree like this?"

She giggled before embedding her spile into the tree. She watched for a bit before the red sap slowly seeped out. She quickly uncapped her jar and set it down to collect the fluid. Leon stuck his finger in the flow to try some of the sap.

"Jeez, that's super sweet," he said.

"I wanna try!" Lilly said, doing the same thing. "Yeah, goodness, it's like eating pure brown sugar!"

"If you guys get diarrhea," Ingrid began, "don't come crying to me."

"It should be perfectly safe," Yuan said. "My mom regularly ate pancakes with this stuff instead of maple syrup."

"Yeah, but that's probably processed stuff, isn't it? Or did she eat it raw like these two are doing?"

"Raw, I think," he said as he joined the two in stealing some of the sap as it flowed into the first jar. "Yup, this is the stuff she liked. This jar's almost filled. Get ready to switch out."

"Affirmative!" Leon said, saluting and uncapping another jar.

"You guys are ridiculous," Ingrid said.

"C'mon!" Lilly said. "Try some! It's good! Just, don't get too much or you'll get all hyper like Leon."

The only Faunus of the team rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, I get it," Leon said, sticking his finger into the flow. "You don't wanna get your hands dirty. Here, I'll take one for the team."

"No!" Ingrid said, pushing his hand away before acquiescing and collecting some sap for herself and trying some. They weren't lying about it being sickly sweet, but behind the syrupiness was a subtle hint of other things, which probably only her Faunus senses picked up. Then again, Lilly's palate seemed to be quite sophisticated as well. She might be able to detect the slight traces of mint and wood as well.

"Hey," Yuan said, uncapping his jar as the second filled up. "Why don't we grab some dinner later as a team? After we finish studying, of course."

"I'm down," Leon said.

"What were you thinking?" Lilly asked.

He shrugged, turning to Leon and Ingrid. "Any suggestions? You two are sorta from here."

"Not really a picky eater," Ingrid said.

"Same," Leon said.

Yuan looked up on top of Ingrid's head. He wondered if a cat Faunus was into fish. "What about sushi?"

Ingrid's cat ears instantly perked up.

"Sushi sounds good," Lilly said. "Oh, as long as they have that sweet shrimp available!"

"I think I know just the place that serves that," Leon said.

"Ingrid?" Yuan said.

She was going to answer when she spotted movement behind him. In one swift motion, she pushed him out of the way before holding up her staff to block a downward slash from an Ursa Major.

"Where the hell did that thing come from?" Leon yelled before drawing his sword and deploying it into a scythe.

"We've got two Alpha Beos this way," Yuan said.

"I'll take on the Ursa with Ingrid!" Lilly said. "You two handle the Beowolves!"

"Got it!" the two boys said at the same time before dashing forward.

—

"Got all the sap we need," Perseus said, filling the last of his team's jars. "I wonder where Team LILY went."

"Probably having more fun than we are," Athena said. "Why did we have to get stuck with the predators?"

They both looked over at Team PDTR. Paolo, their leader, was mingling with Octavia, Team ORNJ's leader. Even though they had done some trash-talking about Team ORNJ, apparently the allure of a quartet of young women was strong, and, true to their name, Team PDTR went right in for the kill. At least, their leader and the other two did. Demetri was the only one who did not participate in the obvious flirting.

"You don't seem to fit in with the rest of your team," Xanthus said to Demetri as the latter walked by.

"Let's just say I have more important things to worry about than the opposite sex," Demetri said.

"That's respectable," Perseus said. "Paolo's a real player, though, ain't he?"

"Not as much as the red and black scythe-wielder of Team LILY."

"This is true."

Xanthus looked over at Echo, who was leaning against a far-off tree, scribbling into a notebook as she waited for a second jar to fill up. He walked over to her, leaving Perseus to chat with Demetri.

"You like to draw?" he asked her.

She looked up at him over her notebook before closing it.

"I apologize for intruding."

"Not at all," she said, yawning. "Are you an artist, too?"

"Unfortunately, no. I do enjoy a different art form, though. Do you enjoy dance?"

She shook her head. "Never really had the opportunity back home."

"Hmm. I should probably show you and the others someday."

"You do interpretive dance?"

He nodded. "Particularly with my swords."

"That explains your fighting style. I always thought you looked like you were dancing whenever we did exercises in class."

"It's a terrible habit of mine. Actual combat requires precise and efficient movements. I too often tend to incorporate stylishness into my fighting."

"Nothing wrong with that," Athena said, joining them. "As long as you don't get yourself killed, I don't care how you look while fighting."

"I appreciate that."

"Whatcha drawin', Echo?"

"Nothing," she said.

"C'mon, don't be like that."

The team's archer thought about it for a moment before opening up her notebook to show them her sketch. It was of a water lily, floating in the middle of a pond. Both Athena and Xanthus were astonished at the amount of detail in the sketch. It could easily have been a black and white representation of the real thing.

"This is amazing," Athena said. "You have a thing for this flower, huh?"

Echo shrugged. She refrained from talking about Nerida, whose name was derived from these, her favorite flower. Echo herself did not have a favorite, but if she had to pick one, it would probably be this.

"Hey, that's a water lily, isn't it?" Perseus said as he joined them.

Echo nodded before shutting her notebook and stowing it in her pack. She switched out the second jar with a third as it filled up with the red sap.

"Where'd your friend go?" Athena asked Perseus.

"He went back to his team, I guess," he said. "I feel bad for the guy."

"Why's that?" Xanthus asked, pushing up his glasses.

"So, he transferred here from Atlas Primary Combat School, right? And apparently he left a girl behind, too, a younger girl, but she's already attending Atlas Huntsman Academy."

"Another overachiever, huh?" Athena said.

"From what he's told me, he's under a lot of pressure, not just from his own family, but from the Schnee Family and, according to him anyway, all of Atlas."

"All of Atlas? What the heck?"

"Supposedly he's gotta perform at his best because he's got a spot waiting for him in the military afterward."

"Why's he here, then? Why not Atlas?"

"To broaden his horizons, I'm guessing. You know, get to know your enemy before you fight him kinda thing."

"That's a little negative," Xanthus said. "Perhaps he merely wishes to be a well-rounded officer."

"If you say so," Perseus said. "I mean, with Atlas building its armies again, I dunno. The Grimm are on the brink of disappearing from our world and they're increasing their military might. You wanna know why? Because when we've wiped out the Grimm, the only remaining enemy will be the rest of humankind."

Athena didn't want to believe such drivel, but Perseus had a point. Unless Atlas was anticipating another enemy, such a massive buildup of military power had no purpose. She was about to add to the conversation when she noticed Echo staring off into the distance.

"What's up?" she asked.

Echo glanced at her before returning to the horizon, drawing her bow. "Something's wrong," she said. "Team LILY should be back by now."

"They're probably fine," Perseus said. "They're second only to us, after all."

Without another word, Echo started marching in the direction Team LILY had gone. Athena was right behind her, followed by Xanthus.

"Professor Branwen," Perseus said into his scroll. "We're heading off to find Team LILY."

"Is something wrong?" Qrow asked.

"We don't know. We'll contact you if anything's up."

"There's definitely something up," Athena said. "None of them are answering their scrolls."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Perseus said, breaking into a jog with the rest.

—

"Watch out!" Lilly said, pushing Ingrid out of the way of an incoming Beowolf.

"I hate wolves!" Ingrid said, dodging another Beowolf.

"But, they're Beowolves," Yuan said.

"Still has 'wolf' in it!"

They had just cleared out the last wave when another wave of Grimm began to descend on them.

"What happened to the Grimm being nearly extinct?" Leon said as he slashed through several Creep Grimm. "I mean, we must have fought through dozens of them by now."

"This will make tonight's sushi all the more delicious," Yuan said.

"You really know how to get to a girl's heart, don't you?" Ingrid said.

Leon chuckled.

Meanwhile, Lilly used every single thing she had learned up until now to fight against these monsters. She was the weakest member of this team, in more ways than one, but she was determined to be worth something to them. She couldn't be called team leader and yet be completely inept on the battlefield.

She distanced herself from the other three somewhat, taking on a group of Beowolves alone. More than anything, she needed to prove to herself that she had what it took to lead. One of the Grimm attacked and she immediately countered, dashing toward it and vaulting off its head before slashing at another with Myrtenaster, decapitating it. She immediately turned around to fire off a bolt of Lightning Dust from her weapon, nailing her target and hitting the others with splash damage, but her footing was off and she landed in a bad way. Her left ankle was in pain. She must have twisted it somehow.

 _This isn't good,_ she thought.

Fortunately, the three Beowolves she had hit with the Lightning Dust were stunned for a bit. She switched her cylinder to Ice Dust, turning them into icicles before switching to Earth Dust and shattering each of her frozen enemies. She tried to put weight on her leg, but it wasn't working. Her mobility was greatly hampered.

 _I should've gotten more practice with Echo and Penny,_ she thought before turning around at the sound of a roar.

She barely blocked the swipe from the Alpha Beowolf, but the hit was strong enough to knock her off her feet. She landed hard on the ground, her aura breaking with her fall. She gasped as the Grimm rushed toward her.

"Lilly!" Leon yelled as he went into a dash toward her. As soon as he was within range, he activated his Semblance and he disappeared in a burst of red rose petals, instantly reappearing above the Alpha Beowolf and slicing it in half with Vermillion Crescent.

Lilly's eyes were wide open.

"Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"What was that?" she yelled.

"Oh, that? My Semblance."

"That was so cool!"

He chuckled before helping her back up to her feet, but it was clear from her limp that she was out of commission.

"What were you doing so far from the team?" Leon asked her.

She didn't reply. She wasn't about to admit out loud that she did something reckless just to prove herself. Even though that was exactly what had happened.

Two Ursas were headed in their direction and Leon stood between them and Lilly, but before he could engage, a powerful bolt of lightning struck them with enough voltage to knock them to the ground. Leon turned to Yuan, whose Ji halberd's head was still sparkling with electricity.

"What do you call that thing again?" Leon asked him.

"Heaven Scorcher," Yuan said before finishing off the two stunned Ursas with a thrust to the head each.

"That's a frikkin' awesome ass name, man. Almost as awesome as my Vermillion Crescent."

"You guys have time to chat in the middle of a battle?" Ingrid yelled as she leapt over Yuan to attack an incoming giant Deathstalker. Something about her weapon was odd, though. Instead of a single staff weapon, she was holding two in her hand, stabbing either weapon into the head of the massive scorpion Grimm. She hopped off of the monster and faced off with it.

"Hey, your weapon," Yuan said. "It's not just a stick."

"It is," Ingrid said. "It also just happens to have hidden blades that store inside itself. And Dust guns."

They watched as she attacked the giant Deathstalker by herself, a sword in either hand. Her staff had broken into two smaller weapons, each half concealing the double-edged blade of the other. Coupled with her shadow-creation Semblance, she made quick work of the Deathstalker, slicing off its tail with one sword and stabbing it in the head with the other before leaping back toward her team.

"You have an audience," Leon said, to which she turned around. Team APEX had joined them.

"I thought that was just a stick!" Perseus said.

"It is just a stick," she said. "With blades."

"And guns," Yuan added.

"That's so awesome!" Lilly said, her eyes twinkling with delight.

"It is, actually," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "What else can you do with them?"

She attached both halves together back to back. Though this rendered her guns completely useless, she was now using a double-ended spear weapon.

"Why didn't you deploy it like this sooner?" Athena said. "Were you trying to keep it a secret from everybody else?"

Ingrid shrugged. "It's called Shadow Blitz for a reason. What better stealth than disguising it as a staff?"

"Oh, that is so cool!" Lilly said. "You guys have transforming weapons!"

"Uh, most of us do," Perseus said.

"Not like theirs, though! And Echo's! Hers turns from a staff to a bow, Ingrid's turns from a staff into two swords or a double-sided spear, and Leon's can be either a sword or a scythe!"

"I know," Athena said. "So gimmicky, right?"

"But it's so cool!"

Athena chuckled. "You remind me of my mom."

"Looks like the area is clear," Xanthus said, returning to the group with Echo after scouting their surroundings. "Is anyone injured?"

Lilly sheepishly raised her hand.

"You sprain your ankle or something?" Perseus said.

"Actually, yes," she said.

"What?" he chuckled.

"Bad landing."

"Want me to carry you back?" Leon asked her.

She reddened. "I'll try to walk it."

"Okay. But the offer stands if you think you can't do it."

She gave him a smile before heading to the tree they had been tapping. The last jar was overflowing with sap and she cleaned it off before capping it and removing the spile.

"You don't have to do all this, you know," Ingrid said, taking two of the jars.

"I'm team leader," Lilly said. "It's my responsibility."

"You're also allowed to delegate," Athena said. "That's an important quality of being a leader, too."

She didn't answer, quietly leading the way back to the main group, limping without any complaints. Before long, she was able to walk just fine again.

"She has a strong aura," Xanthus said. "Her sprain's completely healed."

"Either that or she's faking it," Perseus said.


	12. Chapter XII

CHAPTER XII

 _The Will to Fight_

The week went by quickly and Thursday's unsupervised patrol was already upon them. Penny and Qrow had been coordinating this special test all week long and, despite being only the third week of classes, it seemed Team LILY and APEX would be up to the task.

"I don't like using civilians for this," Penny said.

"Well, the stakes have to be real," Qrow said. "Your idea to guard security nodes was safer, but this way we can test their ability to respond to a real crisis."

"And what if something goes wrong?"

"That's why you and I are on standby."

She sighed heavily. "I still don't like this. We should at least get Dr. Oobleck to join us in case things go sideways."

"He's in the middle of teaching a class."

"Can't we get _someone_ in on this?"

"Penny, you and I are experts at what we do. We'll be enough to clean up any mess that might happen."

She shook her head. "Whatever."

"Hey, I'm the one taking responsibility for anything that happens out there."

"That's not the point. I don't care who's responsible. I would like to _avoid_ crappy situations altogether."

"You worry too much. What happened to the old you, anyway?"

"She grew up."

—

"This sector is clear," Leon said into his radio.

"Clear on our end," Athena replied.

"Copy. We'll continue on our route until we meet at the designated rendezvous location."

Ingrid returned to the group.

"Anything?" Lilly asked her.

"Nope," she said. "All clear up ahead."

"That's a relief."

"Still," Leon said. "Kinda makes for a boring patrol."

"Boring is good," Yuan said. "It means none of us are at risk of dying."

Ingrid and Lilly broke away from Leon and Yuan to cover more ground. When they were outside of earshot, Ingrid figured it was the best time to consult with her partner.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Huh?" Lilly said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean from the way you've been acting all week. You're not gonna go run off and try taking on a group of Grimm by yourself again, are you?"

"You think I'm acting stupid?"

"Not stupid. Desperate."

She didn't reply.

"Lilly, you're our team leader. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. We already look up to you."

"What is it about me that's even worth looking up to?"

"Everything. Your determination, your innate strength, that...smile of yours."

Lilly wasn't wearing that smile today.

"You see? You literally are the spirit of this team. It's hard for the rest of us to smile when you're not smiling."

"Is that all I'm good for? My smile?"

"No, and even if that were the case, the effect you have on the team is integral to our performance."

"Look, just..." she trailed off. "The first Grimm we run into, I'm taking care of it, okay?"

"Lilly—"

"I'm serious, Ingrid."

Their Faunus member looked at her team leader for a moment. There was really nothing she could say or do to counter her. Ingrid understood just how important it was for Lilly to prove to herself that she had what it took to be team leader. After all, she felt the same way. Despite all the praise her mother and father would give her, she needed to be sure that she had what it took to be a Huntress.

"I'll back you up if you need help," Ingrid finally said.

—

"It's way too quiet out here," Perseus said.

"No kidding," Athena said. "Echo, are you picking anything up?"

The team's archer shook her head. She was up in the trees, hopping from branch to branch, keeping to high ground and scanning their surroundings with every step. She had a mental map of the entire forest, from the furthest west to the easternmost section. They were currently in the east half. She already had an escape route in mind in case they needed to flee from battle.

"So," Perseus said. "Lilly's under quite a bit of pressure, isn't she?"

"It's not surprising," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Most of it comes from within, though. She looks around at all of us and sees herself as the weakest. Considering her family background, that must take a toll on her psyche."

"I kinda get it. I mean, the Jupiter Family isn't exactly known for military or Huntsman prowess, but ever since my dad founded the company, it's like the whole family is under pressure. I mean, I'm only out here because they wanted to make inroads toward the Huntsman Academies. One of my brothers, who's two years older than me, is pretty much expected to take over the company after my dad. For fuck's sake, he sits on the board of directors, and he's only nineteen."

"Sounds like a Schnee," Athena said.

"Yeah, like I said, I get the pressure she puts on herself. But at least she's the one doing it. Her mom isn't the one pushing her to succeed."

"Why don't you just break away from your family?" Echo asked from above.

"It ain't that simple, you know," he said, "not when you're friggin' dependent on them."

"So get independent."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have drones following you around everywhere."

"Want me to shoot them all out of the sky for you?"

He chuckled. "Would you?"

"Yes."

"By all means, go for it. Probably won't make my old man happy, though."

Athena said nothing as she continued marching forward, Aegis in her left hand, Pallas in her right. This shield and weapon combination was something she picked up from her father, except that he used a sword. The reason she had gone with a spear was two-fold. Her mother used a pole weapon, and so she figured she'd carry on tradition. But there was another reason.

While browsing through their photo album one day, she had come across a picture of Team JNPR, her father's old team when he attended Beacon Academy with her mother. She had been enraptured by the strong and confident Pyrrha Nikos, even going as far as studying her fighting style in the videos that existed and taking everything from her. That their Semblances were nearly identical only pushed her in the direction she was now headed.

Like Lilly, she, too, did not have external pressure to succeed, at least not at first. Her drive came from within. She had both her mother and father to live up to, but also the legend of Pyrrha Nikos. It was as though she was her second coming. It wasn't until recently, when she became well-known throughout Signal as the girl who can take on an entire team alone and come out on top, that the pressure from the outside started to build. Every time she was in a ring, she was expected to win.

There were some times when she wanted to throw her own fight and break away from all that nonsense. But she never could, not with her parents' proud smiles ushering her forth and the thought of her younger brother's disappointment in his elder sister had she done such a stupid thing.

"You're awfully quiet," Xanthus said, walking beside Athena.

"Just strategizing in case something comes up out here," she lied.

"As expected of our leader."

More expectations. Perhaps it was better if she would just abdicate the position to someone else. No, that wouldn't do. Whether she liked it or not, she was this team's leader. These people were counting on her. What kind of person would she be if she backed down now?

—

Lilly and Ingrid stopped as they came across a lone Ursa. They watched it from behind some brush as it wandered around, searching for something to destroy. Leon and Yuan joined them as soon as they spotted it as well.

"I'll take care of this one," Lilly said. "I don't want anybody interfering."

"Wait, what?" Leon began to object, but Ingrid quieted him down.

"We'll be here if you need us," Yuan said. "Just call out."

Ingrid looked over at him. Like her, he, too, seemed to understand just how important this was to Lilly.

"Thank you," Lilly said before drawing Myrtenaster and stepping into the clearing.

The instant it detected her presence, the Ursa turned around and roared at her. She swung Myrtenaster at the monster, projecting a wave of fire, which singed its carapace. It broke through the flames and dashed at her, but she was quick to dodge and counter with another wave of fire, switching to lightning to stun it. A quick thrust to the head was all it took to finish the beast off, but there were more. Two Alpha Beowolves and four Alpha Creeps were headed her way from the side.

"Lilly!" Leon yelled as he emerged from their cover.

Their team leader had a hand out to stop him as she faced her enemies without a hint of fear in her bones.

"That's six Alpha Grimm," Leon said. "What the hell is she thinking?"

"She's thinking she needs to be able to prove to herself that she has what it takes," Ingrid said. "We may all believe in her, but she doesn't. And I'm not gonna be the one to break her confidence by butting in. This is it for her. If she can't do this, she'll never be able to move forward."

"You can do it, Lilly," Yuan said quietly. "We all believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself."

Lilly let out a battle cry as she slashed at an Alpha Creep, slicing off its head before quickly dodging a swipe from an Alpha Beowolf. One of the Alpha Creeps had just burrowed and she knew it was coming at her, though whether it would be from directly beneath or some other angle, she couldn't know. She blocked an attack from another Alpha Creep before leaping away to create some distance between herself and the monsters, which were now blocking the way to her team. That didn't matter to her, though. She was determined to end this fight by herself.

All three remaining Alpha Creeps roared at once as they burrowed into the ground. The two Alpha Beowolves dashed at the same time, attacking her from both sides. She projected an ice attack at the one on the left before engaging the enemy to the right. She needed to kill this thing before the Alpha Creeps re-emerged and ambushed her.

Empowered by sheer will alone, she dashed at the Alpha Beowolf, dodging its swipe and giving it a forceful shoulder check, knocking it to the ground before impaling its head with her weapon. The others were dumbfounded that such a small girl would have used her body as a weapon so effectively.

"She just tackled a thing three times her mass," Yuan said.

"I think I'm in love," Leon said, his mouth open.

Ingrid scowled at him. "This isn't the time or place," she said.

"I don't care. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Lilly was quick to dodge the Alpha Creep that emerged from the ground beneath her. She activated her weapon's Gravity Dust to help her get away from the kill zone. Two of the Alpha Creeps were still burrowed, likely waiting for their opportunity to strike. Unlike the younger Creeps, Alpha variants were much smarter. This wasn't going to be easy, even though she had already taken down two of them.

She landed some distance away, but the Alpha Beowolf was already on her and she exchanged blows with it on equal ground, turning and zapping the pursuing Alpha Creep with a bolt of lightning before resuming her bout with her main enemy.

She managed to wound the monster when the ground beneath her rumbled and she lost her footing. She only barely managed to free herself from the hole before stumbling to the side, dodging the emerging Alpha Creep by mere inches. She scampered away from her two enemies as the other Alpha Creep regained its bearing. All three were now approaching her.

 _There's another one still in the ground,_ she said, quickly turning and running in the other direction. _Where are you, you little bugger?_

She turned and swung Myrtenaster, projecting a wall of ice at her enemies to block their path. She stooped over, panting, trying to sense the last burrowed Alpha Creep's location, but before she could pinpoint anything, the ground began to rumble loudly.

 _Crap!_ she thought, rolling to the side to dodge three Alpha Creeps emerging from the ground at once.

She landed hard against a rock she hadn't seen and her shoulder went limp, accompanied by a dull pain. Luckily, it wasn't her sword arm that was rendered immobile. She winced, trying to bring up her left arm, but it was no use.

 _Not good,_ she thought before the ice wall behind her broke.

She turned around. The Alpha Beowolf was pouncing upon her. There was no time to react, and with her left arm out of commission, this would be it. But before the Grimm could land a hit on her, someone tackled it out of the air, rolling on the ground with it before stabbing it multiple times with a pair of swords.

"Ingrid!" Lilly cried out.

"It's important to know your limits, partner," she said, standing back to back with her as the three remaining Alpha Creeps surrounded them. "I'll follow your lead."

Lilly let out a heavy sigh. Even now, one of her teammates had to come to her rescue. But where were Leon and Yuan? She looked to the distance. They were standing ready, scythe and Ji halberd in hand, but they weren't moving. Ingrid was the only one at her side.

 _They wanna make sure I have my shot,_ she thought, stifling a tear. _I won't let them down._

"I stun, you attack," Lilly said, switching Myrtenaster to Lightning Dust. "Go!"

She swung her weapon, successfully zapping two of the Alpha Creeps, but one went unscathed. Even the two hit recovered in record time. One of them burrowed while the other pair attacked both girls separately.

"The burrowed one's going after you!" Ingrid said, sensing the monster's movements underground.

"Roger!" Lilly said, nailing Ingrid's enemy with a projected Earth Dust attack before smashing her empowered weapon into the head of her opponent with enough force to knock it over to the side.

She jumped to dodge the emerging Alpha Creep before coming back down to impale it in the head. The final enemy was lunging at her and she projected a rock wall to block it. Ingrid was quick to aid her, slashing the Alpha Creep to death with her two swords.

Lilly panted as she joined her partner, staring down at the disintegrating Grimm. She looked over at Ingrid, eyeing her weapons, which she was returning to its single, combined staff form.

"So, the blades store inside the handles of the other halves, huh?" Lilly said.

"Yeah," Ingrid said.

"Cool. But how do you use them as swords when the handles are so long? They're longer than the blades themselves, right?"

"I designed it, so I'm an expert with it."

"True."

"Hey!" Leon said, holding a hand up for Lilly. She returned the high-five. "That was great!"

"Are you satisfied?" Yuan asked her.

"A little," she said. "I wish I could've taken on all six of them on my own, though."

"I mean, you did for a while," Leon said. "Any one of us would've needed help against that many Alpha Grimm."

"Not your sister."

"Trust me, even Athena would've needed help against Alphas. Those things are way different from the regular Grimm, if you haven't noticed."

"Still."

There was a scream in the distance and all four turned in its direction.

"Civilians?" Yuan said.

"Leon, radio Team APEX," Lilly said. "Let's go!"

"Roger!" the other three said at the same time.


	13. Chapter XIII

CHAPTER XIII

 _This Is Not A Drill_

Lilly was the first to the scene. There must have been a dozen civilians cornered by a group of Grimm. Without hesitation, she dashed forward, yelling as she slashed at a Creep before projecting a wall of ice between some attacking Beowolves and the civilians.

"Is everyone all right?" Lilly asked the group, which responded with whimpers and frightened looks.

"Is anyone injured?" Leon said as he arrived, Vermillion Crescent fully deployed in scythe mode.

"We have two," a young man said. "My grandfather and a guy who was protecting his family.

"I've got you, sir," Yuan said, shouldering the other injured man and projecting his aura to boost his healing capacity.

"M-My family," the man said.

"They're right here."

"More Grimm!" Ingrid said as she and Lilly engaged the attackers.

"Yuan! Leon! Stay with the civilians!" Lilly shouted.

The two boys looked at each other with a grin. "Yes, ma'am!" they both said at the same time.

The first thing Lilly did was project lightning blasts with Myrtenaster, upon which Ingrid broke Shadow Blitz into its two bladed halves before reattaching them end to end, creating a double-ended spear. She and Lilly fought side by side, decimating the group of Grimm before standing back to back to face off with the remaining monsters.

"Lilly," Ingrid said. "We can't hold them off forever."

"Right," she said. "The people are terrified, which will attract even more Grimm."

"Yeah. What should we do?"

"I can't get a hold of the school," Yuan said, retrying his scroll. "We might be too far from the nearest tower."

"Or something's jamming our signal," Leon said. "My scroll's no good either."

Lilly pondered the situation for a moment. How could she use her team? Yuan was quick, but not as quick as Ingrid, although she was still slower than that Semblance Leon had shown her on Monday. She hadn't asked him what it was, which she probably should have done as the team's leader, but from what she remembered, it had something to do with extremely rapid speeds.

"Leon!" she yelled as she and Ingrid engaged the attacking Grimm.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Your Semblance is, uh, that rose petal thing you do, right?"

"What about it?"

"We need to get the people out of here, but it's more important for us to get backup or we might all get swarmed by the Grimm. I think you're the fastest one here. What's your Semblance, anyway?"

"I can teleport short distances."

Right. That was exactly what had happened when he saved her on Monday. He had instantly arrived at her location before slicing the attacking Grimm in half.

"How far?" she asked.

"Max of twenty-five yards."

"How frequent?"

"Uh, I never really pushed it, but as far as I know, I can do it as fast as I want, but it drains the crap out of my aura."

"Can you pace yourself?"

"I can try."

"Okay, you remember where the Huntsman outpost is, right?"

"Just south of here."

"Go get some help!"

"But, what about you guys?"

"Leon! When we find ourselves outmatched, it's better to go and get help from other Huntsmen! You're our only shot right now with our scrolls out of commission!"

He made eye contact with her before giving a single nod.

"Take care, man," Yuan said.

"Don't get yourself killed!" Ingrid said as she stabbed an Ursa in the head.

Without another word, Leon vanished into a cloud of rose petals, instantly appearing exactly twenty-five yards away before breaking into a dash.

—

"I told you something would go wrong!" Penny said, typing away furiously into her control terminal.

"Just get the thing back online," Qrow said, loading up on Dust and other supplies, readying both of them for battle.

"I can't! Something is actively jamming our comm array out there!"

"So, call for backup."

"What do you think I'm doing? Dammit, we should've gone out there to find them the moment we lost track of them."

"Penny, you don't have enough faith in those kids."

"Because I was once in that position!"

"And you made it out just fine, didn't you?"

She didn't answer.

"You do realize who their parents are, right?"

"I know, but—"

"Don't underestimate them. That's all I have to say."

She sighed heavily, stepping away from the control panel and looking out past the cliff over Forever Fall. This forest was too big for them to go find those kids. As much as she hated to admit it, Qrow was right. She had to have faith in them.

—

"There's too many!" Ingrid said, somersaulting away as she left a shadow clone, which exploded, flattening the surrounding Grimm.

Lilly reloaded her weapon's Dust cartridge, but she was down to the last ones for each color. If she ran out of ammo now, she'd end up being a dead weight to her team. That was something that she could not allow to happen.

"Look out!" Yuan cried as he stepped between Lilly and an incoming Alpha Beowolf, blocking its strike before countering and slashing it in the chest. Lilly followed up with a fireball from Myrtenaster, exchanging glances with her teammate before engaging another group of Beowolves.

"Guys?" Lilly said, looking over at a giant, two-headed snake that was slithering toward them from the trees. "What is that thing?"

"King Taijitu!" Yuan said, tackling her out of the way of the white snake head's attack.

"Thanks," Lilly said before attacking with her teammates.

This giant of a beast would take all three of them to defeat, but there were other Grimm stalking the group of civilians. Lilly was about to abandon the fight with the giant snake to save the refugees when something flew out from the trees, bouncing from Grimm to Grimm and knocking them to the ground before returning to its owner.

Lilly looked up. Standing on a branch was the beautiful, golden-haired Athena Rose, holding her arm up as she caught her shield. Standing on a higher branch was Echo, who took aim and fired three consecutive arrows at incoming Grimm, each one a perfect headshot.

"Team APEX!" Athena cried out.

"Hooah!" the other three responded.

Lilly watched with awe painted all over her face as Athena led the charge through the horde of Grimm, deftly swinging and stabbing with her spear, blocking strikes with her shield and hurling it at enemies from time to time.

"We have two injured," Athena said, examining the two men. "Echo, stay with them. Perseus, Xanthus, perimeter. One of you take the left flank, the other, take the right. I'll cover the rear.

"Roger," the three said.

Lilly could not contain her awe at how much command Athena had over her team. The confidence she exuded was enough to empower even Lilly, who rejoined her own team in taking down the King Taijitu Grimm.

"Where's my brother?" Athena asked as she and Lilly led the escape from the front while Yuan and Ingrid covered the rear.

"I sent him to get help," Lilly said. "Our scrolls stopped working a while ago."

"Yeah, same with ours. Good thinking. His Semblance should get him to the nearest Huntsman outpost in no time. I'm just worried, cuz he's never used it that often and for so long."

"I believe in him."

"You're fond of my brother, aren't you?"

Lilly reddened. "H-He's a good teammate. Plus, I think he's reliable."

"That's Leon for you. He might get on your nerves, but you can count on him when the going gets tough."

—

"Get the hell away from me!" Leon said, slashing his way through a group of Beowolves before using his Semblance again, teleporting an entire twenty-five yards. He fell to the ground as exhaustion caught up to him and his aura collapsed.

"Damn it," he said to himself, getting up and continuing in a sprint. A mid-sized Nevermore broke through the trees, crashing directly into him. He fought it off before it tried to fly away, but he didn't let it get even five feet from him when he sliced it in half with his scythe. His left arm felt sore and he looked over.

Blood.

"Perfect freakin' timing," he said as he continued toward the city. He was nearing his destination when he came across a tiny encampment. He skidded to a halt, taking another glance at the only two people present.

"G-Grandpa Qrow?" Leon said, walking up to them.

"Leon?" Penny said. "What are you doing here?"

He filled them in on the situation.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Penny said to Qrow.

"We gotta move!" Leon said.

"Wait, not before I bandage you up."

"There's no time for that!"

"Dammit, don't be an idiot! Let me stop the bleeding!"

Leon turned away from her as she tore off his sleeve before proceeding to dress his wound.

"What?" she said, looking up at him. "You weren't being serious when you said you were shy, were you?"

Qrow chuckled.

"N-No, of course not," Leon said. "I-It's just..."

"C'mon," Penny said. "Spill it."

He found himself reddening. "You really are prettier up close."

She smiled as she finished wrapping up his wound. "There. That should hold. I'll send a drone to the nearest Huntsman base to give them our coordinates. Let's go!"

—

"I don't understand," Xanthus said, standing close to Echo after defeating another Alpha Beowolf. "This makes no sense. There are way too many Grimm out here. Forever Fall is so close to Vale that there shouldn't be this many."

Echo took aim at a Beowolf nearing Lilly and Athena, letting the arrow soar right into its head.

"Thanks!" Lilly said, giving her a wave and a smile. The smile was the contagious part and Echo found herself returning it.

"She really is something, isn't she?" Xanthus said as he fixed his glasses.

"Yeah," Echo said. She turned to the left as her senses went haywire, but there was nothing there, no immediate danger anyway. That was strange. Her Semblance was never inaccurate. There were never any false positives or false negatives. It was perfectly reliable.

Just before she was about to let her guard down, one of the children in the group began transforming, its mouth opening wide to reveal a Grimm beneath. Some of the civilians began screaming as they scattered about, but Echo's reaction time was quicker than most. In a single motion, she had transformed her bow into a staff, striking the monster a number of times before pulling an arrow out of her quiver and stabbing the creature in the neck.

"My son!" a woman cried hysterically.

"That wasn't your son anymore," Echo said, balling her fist as the implications came to her.

That boy must have been possessed by that Skinwalker Grimm for a while now. From what they knew about that Grimm, victims were slowly eaten from the inside out, kept mostly alive by the parasite, only being killed when it was about to emerge. For days, the boy would have suffered hallucinations as the Skinwalker took over not only his body, but his mind as well. Nervousness and psychotic bouts would plague him, but only mentally. The Skinwalker's control over the human body was impeccable. None of those outward signs of possession would show until it was too late.

"What happened?" Athena said as she and Lilly arrived.

"Skinwalker," Echo said, gritting her teeth.

"Hey," Lilly said, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." But the family of that boy wouldn't be, and that's what got to Echo more than anything.

"We've got more coming from this direction!" Ingrid yelled as she blew apart a group of Grimm with a fiery shadow clone before running with Yuan to form a defensive triangle with Perseus at the front.

"We're gonna have to hold here for now," Athena said, examining the terrain. "It's way too open up ahead. At least here, we have the advantage of the topography."

Lilly took note of her fellow team captain's assessment. Working according to the layout of the land was certainly paramount to victory in battle. Placing oneself in a disadvantageous position was foolish at best, suicidal at worst. This small clearing was perfect for them to defend. The trees in either direction were too thick for large hordes of Grimm to pass through. There were only two entrances, one up ahead, and one behind, where Perseus, Yuan, and Ingrid mounted a heavy bottleneck defense.

"Rotate out!" Athena ordered as she, Xanthus, and Lilly switched with the trio, who fell back to the group to recuperate. "Echo, we're counting on your eagle eye!"

She nodded, keeping her head on a swivel. There could be another Skinwalker among this group. None of them would ever know. Despite that threat, she needed to stay within the crowd. Only she had the strength and skill necessary to deal with them.

"That wave's done for!" Xanthus said, clanging his swords together as Athena stabbed the last Beowolf in the chest before slicing its head off.

"What's it look like back there?" Athena said to the other three.

"Clear for now," Perseus said. "Should we move forward? There's quite a bit of a clearing up ahead, though. We'll be screwed if we get caught in another ambush."

"That's a chance we'll have to take. We can't just sit here with civilians we need to protect."

"Copy. This way!"

Perseus, Ingrid, and Yuan led the group through the forest, continuing in the direction of the city. Lilly looked back to make sure there were no Grimm following them, but when she turned back to the group, everyone was gone.

"Athena?" she called out, turning around again. The forest was now plunged into an overcast gray, the bright reds of Forever Fall overcome by the ashen hue. "Where are you guys?"

She looked all around. There were no signs of life anywhere, no birds singing, no crickets chirping, not even the growl of the Grimm. Something was behind her, something that sent chills up her spine. She slowly turned around. At the top of the hill they had just descended was something dark and twisted, silhouetted by the light behind it. It writhed and wheezed as it took one labored step after another in her direction. She was petrified for the first several seconds, but once she was able to free herself, she began stepping back, screaming as she ran into something behind her.

"Whoa!" Athena said. "What happened?"

Lilly panted as she looked up into Athena's face then back toward the thing. It was gone. The world's light had returned as well, the reds overpowering her eyes.

"Is everything all right?" Ingrid said as she and Yuan ran to them.

"Y-Yeah," Lilly said, rubbing her eyes. "Just, letting my imagination run wild again."

"We've got company!" Perseus yelled as he and Xanthus engaged a large group of Grimm.

"There's something fishy going on here," Athena said.

"You, too, huh?" Ingrid said.

"Yeah. Grimm don't usually move like this. It's like they've grown smarter or something, stopping their attack when they're at a disadvantage and resuming when we've become an easy target."

The group continued to fight against the endless hordes of Grimm, but each time it seemed like they could move on, something would block their path. It was as though the Grimm were being directed by some outside force.

"What is with these assholes?" Perseus yelled as an Ursa Major struck his shield hard enough to throw him back.

Lilly had just downed an Alpha Creep when she spotted something lurking past the trees. It looked like a Grimm, but it was unlike anything they'd seen before. This stood on two legs, no different from a man, except much taller and with unnaturally long arms.

"See something?" Yuan asked her.

She looked over to him and then back to the trees. It wasn't there anymore. That's if it was there to begin with. She'd been hallucinating a lot lately and that was probably just another instance of the same.

Athena finished off two Alpha Beowolves at the same time when something flew at her from the trees with incredible speed. She brought up her shield, deflecting the strike before blocking another spear-like object. From the looks of those things, they were made of bone.

"Athena!" Perseus said, standing side by side with her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she said, keeping her shield up. "Be careful. Those throws were really strong."

"I'm more worried about why that thing's not coming out."

Another group of Beowolves attacked and both fighters turned to engage them. Echo sensed the danger from the trees and immediately fired three Explosive Dust-tipped arrows into the woods. She had no idea if that had any effect, but the danger was gone. She spotted something up in the trees. Ingrid, too, spotted the creature.

"Is that a Grimm?" Echo said.

"If it is," Ingrid began, "I've never seen anything like it."

Meanwhile, Xanthus had his hands full with the Ursa Major that he and Perseus had been fighting. He hadn't used his Semblance at all today and he figured it was as good a time as any to do it. He sheathed the Sword of Heaven and held the Sword of Chaos with both hands, the sword built for powerful strokes. He activated his Semblance, fully empowering his sword, which became red in color. His left eye, the red one, began to glow as the totality of his life force flooded the sword.

He dashed at the Ursa Major, which brought up an arm to block his overhead strike, but he cleaved right through the bear Grimm's arm down into its head and the full length of its body, bisecting it from head to foot. He still had some time before his aura would break from the stress of his Semblance's total activation and went on from one Grimm to the next, cleaving each one in half until he finally retreated to the crowd as his aura broke.

"I've got you covered," Yuan said, extending his own aura to shield his comrade.

"Much appreciated," Xanthus said. "I've got a little under a minute until my aura fully recovers."

"No worries. My Semblance doesn't use up my aura the way you guys do."

"Right, unless you overextend or use it offensively."

"Yeah."

"How come we never ended up as friends back at Sanctum?"

Yuan shrugged. "We both mostly kept to ourselves, remember?"

Lilly was struck hard by something emerging from the trees and she was thrown back several feet. The blow completely obliterated her aura and she was left defenseless. Athena was between her and the attacker in an instant, shield up, spear ready for battle.

The enemy she was now facing was unlike any Grimm they had ever seen. It was humanoid in appearance, with a number of bony protrusions at odd locations on its body, mainly on its back, shoulders, head, elbows, knees, and wrists.

"What the hell is that ugly motherfucker?" Perseus said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Ingrid said.

Athena rushed at the monster, which dodged and blocked and countered with expert maneuvers. The others couldn't believe their eyes. No Grimm exhibited such behavior. No Grimm on Remnant was this smart.

"No way," Lilly said. "Is this the thing Penny was talking about?"

"Omega Grimm, right?" Echo said.

Athena saw an opening and went for a thrust with her spear, but it did not plunge into flesh as she expected. She looked at her spear point. It had struck the Grimm, but something stopped it from moving forward.

"An aura?" Xanthus yelled.

"Be careful!" Lilly said. "I think that thing can use Dust, too!"

The moment the words left her mouth, the Grimm held a hand out at Athena and she only barely managed to block the fireball, which threw her back several feet.

"Son of a bitch," she grunted. _That knocked the wind out of me,_ she thought, spitting on the ground. There was a smidgen of blood mixed in, but her aura was still intact.

A host of Grimm descended upon them all at once and each of the students had to fight solo battles, including Echo, who kept a close eye on the panicked crowd of civilians just in case any more of them transformed into Skinwalker Grimm. In the meantime, Athena continued to duel with the Omega Grimm, which was holding a bony spear in its hand. She was the only one in this entire group who could go toe to toe with this thing. She alone had the strength, speed, agility, and experience to take it on, and it seemed as though she was outmatched this time.

The Omega held out a hand again for a Dust attack and she held up her shield. What she did not see was a second Omega attacking from the left. She had no time to react and the head of the Grimm's bone-like war hammer struck her on the side of the head, making her black out momentarily as she was hurled several feet through the air. Just as she regained consciousness, something sharp pierced her back and she let out a scream.

Echo's heart skipped a beat as she turned to her team leader. An Omega Grimm was atop her, its bony spear in her back as she cried in pain. Before Echo knew it, her feet were already moving, hands at work tearing arrow after arrow out of her quiver. She must have fired over a dozen at the two Omega Grimm when she came upon them, transforming her bow into a staff and engaging them in close combat, driving them both away from Athena, who lay bleeding on the earth.

Xanthus never thought Echo could wear such a ferocious look on her face. Her teeth were gritted, eyes seething with hate, knuckles white as she gripped her staff. He turned to Lilly, who appeared to be in shock, mouth agape, eyes staring off into space. He was going to join his teammate in battle against the two monsters when something seemed to emerge from where Lilly stood. He looked at her again.

 _Was that a heartbeat?_ he thought.

She emitted another pulse, a tiny shockwave that was only barely detectable. Echo would have felt it had she not been in a blind rage right now, but Ingrid, the only Faunus on the team, certainly picked up each and every beat.

"Lilly, what's going on?" she said quietly.

She watched as her team leader balled her fists, gripping Myrtenaster so tightly that she began to shake.

"You monsters," Lilly managed, her once-innocent face transforming into furious indignation. "That was my friend!"

She switched over to Fire Dust and attacked until she was out of ammunition before switching to Lightning Dust. The two Grimm blocked and countered with their own Dust attacks, which Lilly deftly evaded and countered against as well. Eventually, however, she ran out of ammunition for her weapon and one of the Omegas nailed her with a rock born from Earth Dust right in the gut, sending her reeling and breaking her aura.

"Lilly!" Ingrid yelled, about to run to her aid when Lilly looked up at the two monsters, her face masked with rage Ingrid never thought she'd be capable of.

"You think it'll be that easy?" Lilly said. "You think you have what it takes to take down the daughter of the Silver Maiden?"

She pointed Myrtenaster at the two Grimm and a giant circular image appeared just at the tip of her weapon. The shapes and patterns looked holographic, as though something was projecting this animated red-orange figure in the air. Out of the circle of geometric shapes and unfamiliar lettering, fire spewed forth, the impact hurling the Omegas into the trees with enough force to uproot a number of them.

Lilly was panting, her energy completely sapped. She fell to all fours and Ingrid ran to her side.

"Are you okay?" her partner said.

She didn't respond, fighting just to catch her breath.

"What the heck did you just do?"

In truth, she had no idea herself. She just felt the need to use Dust despite having none left, and then it just happened.

"It's not over yet!" Perseus said, standing beside Echo and Yuan as Xanthus tended to Athena.

"Two more of those new Grimm!" Yuan said.

"I don't think we can take on four at once," Xanthus said, shouldering his team leader, who was gripping what remained of the bony spear protruding from her abdomen, including her armor. "Are you okay?"

"I'll manage," Athena groaned before yelping.

"Don't pull it out."

"That's what she said," she chuckled.

"Do you always channel your brother in the midst of a crisis?"

"I know, it's terrible timing."

Ingrid joined in the fight against the four Omega Grimm, but one-on-one, they stood no chance against them and each one had their auras broken in record time. They all stood their ground, holding their weapons up as the Omegas held out their hands for an onslaught of Dust attacks.

But before the fire and lightning and ice and earth attacks emerged, something flew down from the sky and scattered the quartet with its explosive impact. The dust and debris from the blast cleared away to reveal a girl with auburn hair tied up into a high ponytail, her locks flowing with the wind.

"Athena!" Leon yelled as he ran to his sister. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look fucking all right?" she said dryly.

He chuckled. "Here, lemme bandage you up."

"Wait, what happened to you?"

"Just a scratch. Yours is a lot worse, believe me."

The students all gathered together with the civilians. Those who were able formed a perimeter against any other incoming Grimm, but none showed up. It was only the four Omegas that faced off with the new arrivals.

"Is that Professor Branwen?" Xanthus said, recognizing the uniform and the scythe. "Then, that must be..."

"Playtime's over," Penny said as the Omegas surrounded them. "Qrow, these guys are mine."

"You sure?" he said.

"I have a bit of steam to let off."

"Go for it, then," Qrow said as he backed away.

"She's gonna take on the four of them by herself?" Perseus said as Qrow joined them.

"You kids are about to see what a professional Huntress is capable of," he said. "She's the best of the best."

Penny's fists were balled, but she was otherwise calm. This wasn't her first battle. It certainly wouldn't be her last.

"Where's her weapon?" Ingrid said.

"I am the weapon," Penny answered her question. "Everything else around me is nothing more than a tool."

With that, she vanished, moving faster than the human eye could see. In less time than it takes to blink, she was upon one of the Omegas, delivering a blur of punches and kicks, which the monster defended furiously against. The other Omegas moved to aid their comrade and she vanished once more, appearing above the group with a hand held out.

"Take this!" she said as her hand glowed orange.

A ball of Explosive Dust impacted the quartet and sent them flying in different directions. She was already upon one of the Omegas, intercepting it mid-flight and delivering dozens of kicks and punches in mere seconds before elbowing it hard enough to send it flying into the ground to form a body-shaped crater in the dirt.

The other three Omegas were rushing at her, hands glowing with Dust power. They each launched their attacks, but when the dirt cloud cleared, Penny was holding up the body of one of the Omegas, having used it as a meat shield. It began to dissipate as all Grimm do.

"Holy shit," Leon said. "Did anyone see that?"

"No, man," Perseus said. "All I saw was colors. And, stuff happening. I think."

"All I saw was a blur," Ingrid said.

"If the Faunus could barely keep up with that shit," Athena began, "I dunno how the hell any of us could."

Meanwhile, Lilly watched with her mouth open as Penny took on all three remaining Omega Grimm by herself, moving from target to target as the need arose, whittling down their auras while remaining completely untouched. That was the amazing part, that she could fight this battle unscathed and without a weapon in her hands.

Penny leaned back, barely dodging one of the Omega's sword swings. She quickly repositioned herself, simultaneously disarming the monster and hurling it over her shoulder to the other Omegas, knocking them to the ground.

Qrow noticed the scowl on Penny's face. It was the same with every battle she had fought since that war eighteen years ago. Long gone was the cheery, innocent Penny, replaced by this new incarnation, who fought with ferocity unlike any other, each movement and thought with a goal in mind. That goal was victory.

She vanished again, reappearing behind the Omegas. She drove her stolen bony sword into the back of one of her enemies, shattering its aura and impaling it to the ground before kicking the other Omegas away. She finished the one she started on, breaking its neck before facing the other two.

"To tell the truth," she began, stretching out her shoulder, "this is the first time I've taken on more than two Omega Grimm at once. It's good to know I can kill four of you without breaking a sweat."

The remaining enemies roared at her before summoning what was left of their Grimm hordes to try and kill her, but she made short work of nearly a hundred Beowolves, Creeps, Ursas, everything they had at their disposal. She stomped the head of an Alpha Creep into the ground and it lay still, disintegrating in short order. She turned to the only enemies left, the two Omega Grimm.

She vanished, reappearing with her fist buried deep in the gut of one of the Omegas, sending it flying into a tree. She turned to the other Omega, which was trying to grab her, but she slid between its legs before vaulting off of the ground and driving her hand through its back, tearing out its heart. The Grimm coughed out black blood before falling over and crumbling into black powder. She turned to the very last of her enemies, slowly marching toward it. It stepped back, recoiling away from her.

"So," she mumbled. "He was right. Grimm do feel fear."

The Omega turned to flee, but she had already cut off its escape route and it fell back to the ground in fright. She stood over the growling monster, which held a hand at her to throw a Fire Dust attack, but she deflected it with no effort. In a final act of defiance, the Omega lunged at her, but she easily outmaneuvered it before tackling it to the ground. It flailed and growled, kicking up the dirt underneath when Penny finally snapped its neck, ending it for good.

"Nice work," Qrow said as she rejoined the group. "Hey, is it just me, or are you developing a bit of a sadistic side?"

"You're imagining things," Penny said, dusting off her skirt and tights.

Meanwhile, Leon's eyes were open wide as he watched her check up on all of the civilians and students, particularly Athena, whose wound was bad enough to interfere with her aura regeneration. He was next on her list.

"You okay?" she said with a smile.

He mumbled something that wasn't quite any kind of human language and she giggled.

"Your throat's gonna get dry if you keep your mouth open like that."

"I-I was just," he began, "what I mean to say is—"

"He wants to say he's in love with you," Ingrid said.

"Yeah, that—wait, no!"

Penny giggled again. "How's your arm?"

"I-It's better now, thanks to you."

"Good." Her next stop was Lilly. "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh?" Lilly said, standing up from the rock she was sitting on. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good." She turned to tend to someone else.

"Wait, Penny?"

"What's up?"

"Um, do you think you could, uh, train me, I guess?"

"You don't think you're good enough?"

"W-Well, I just, I thought I could get private lessons from you."

"That offer is always on the table. When I said tutoring, it wasn't referring only to your book studies, you know."

"So, yes?"

"Mm-hmm!"

They both exchanged big smiles.

In the meantime, Echo stayed by Athena's side, keeping her cold hand in hers. Her team leader was on a makeshift stretcher Qrow and some of the civilians had fashioned out of materials they could scavenge. Her eyes were closed, breathing rapid.

Though she showed none of it on the outside, Echo was beating herself up within. If something were to happen to Athena, it would be yet another failure on her part to protect someone she cared about. And though she held her hand during the entire march back to Beacon Academy, she could feel a wedge driving between them. None of that was coming from Athena, though. It was coming from Echo's own heart.

The wedge was fashioned out of some of the strongest material in the universe.

Fear.


	14. Chapter XIV

CHAPTER XIV

 _The Strength to Carry On_

It was Friday afternoon when class was dismissed. Athena spent the entire previous night and all of today in the infirmary, recovering from her wound, and both Teams LILY and APEX were headed there now to see her. When they arrived at her room, they were all shocked to see her up and about, throwing on a t-shirt and jeans.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Leon said, rushing into the room.

"I'm getting dressed," she said, tying her golden hair up into a ponytail as always. "Do you mind?"

"Yes, I do mind! You're in no condition to be standing right now!"

"Aww, is my wittle bwuvva wuwwied about his big sista?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "How 'bout I poke my finger in your wound, huh?"

"Do that and I'll break your wrist."

He stuck his tongue out at her and she returned the gesture.

"I knew you were a fast healer," Ingrid said, joining them, "but you've gotten faster. That was a pretty serious injury."

"Still not as fast as if dad were here," Athena said. "Now _that's_ healing power."

"Athena!" Lilly said, running to her to give her a big hug, causing her to wince. "Sorry! I thought you were all better!"

"It's still sore."

"I told you you shouldn't be standing!" Leon said.

"Your dad's a healer?" Perseus said as the rest of the group entered her room.

"Yup," Athena said. "It's one of the reasons Leon and I were able to train so hard with him and mom. If anybody got seriously injured, he'd just heal us up and we'd be right back at it."

"That's a pretty useful Semblance to have on the battlefield. Hell, in regular life."

Echo was keeping a noticeable distance from Athena.

"Hey, what are you doing back there?" Xanthus asked her.

"I'm always in the back," she said. "Haven't you noticed?"

He sensed something else beneath the surface. She hadn't so much as talked about Athena all day in spite of the incessant chatter about her even among the other students who knew of their predicament yesterday. Seeing their team leader nearly killed must have taken its toll on her. Or perhaps it went much deeper than that. Either way, he wasn't one to pry.

"So," Athena said, stretching. "Ice cream?"

"No smoothies this time?" Perseus said.

"We always get smoothies. I want some friggin' ice cream."

—

Echo sat at the edge of a pond in one of Vale's largest parks, enjoying her ice cream alone while the rest of the two teams congregated at a table. She glanced over every once in a while, her eyes always on Athena, noticing every small wince and quiet gasp she would make when she turned too far this way or that way or overreached with her left arm. If only she had gotten to her in time. If only she had just kept a better eye on her team leader, that would not have happened.

Lilly was the one to leave the group to join Echo, sitting right next to her with her ice cream.

"Oh, hey, look!" she said, pointing to a group of ducklings following their mother around.

Even in the midst of her personal crisis, Echo could not stop the smile. She turned her head to Lilly, whose face lit up everything around her no matter how gloomy it was. She was watching as the family of eight swam around the pond in a line. There were other ducks around, most of them solo birds while others were paired up.

Echo spotted a turtle surfacing at the edge of the water. It sat on the bank, looking at the two girls for a while before diving back down. Though they were in the middle of the city, this place afforded a modicum of tranquility, sweeping her out of the hustle and bustle of Academy life and allowing her to slow down for a bit. Her mind wandered back to her home, that lonely village in the woods to the south of Vale. They had subsisted solely on the land, fed by the nearby river and supplemented by the hunters who would regularly venture out into the woods for meat.

Echo was one such hunter, though the only one who hunted alone. It was easier for her not to have a partner. She had too often seen hunters leave the village and come home alone. She would never talk about it, but she knew it was because of the Grimm. When she came of age to start hunting as well, she, too, ran into the Grimm more than once. But because of her Semblance, she would hardly ever have to face them in battle. It was an easy task to lead them away from her people before circling back around to head home with her catch for the day.

She hadn't noticed that Lilly had left her side some time ago. She was in the middle of the pond, balancing precariously atop a rock that was far too pointy, unsuitable for using as a stepping stone. She was going to ask what she was doing when Lilly managed to find her equilibrium, reaching into the water to pull something out. She hopped from rock to rock back to the shoreline, almost missing her step twice along the way.

"There!" she said, sitting back down next to Echo. "Here you go!"

Echo looked down at her hands. She was holding a white and purple water lily, presenting it for her.

"I got this for you!"

"A...flower?" she managed.

"Mm-hmm! Back home, there was a place where tons of these grew and there were all sorts of colors and I think it's what my mom named me after although I guess she might've named me after the actual lily and not water lilies but still this is my favorite flower!"

Through all of her babbling, one thing stood out to Echo. This was her favorite flower. What a coincidence. Nerida was named after water lilies.

"You know," Echo began, "we have the same favorite flower."

"Oh! That's so awesome!"

She accepted the purple and white blossom, taking it in both hands and staring at it for a while, admiring the gradient of dark purples on the outside to the white inner sections of each petal. The center of the flower was golden in color, but the tips of each pollinating stamen was covered in a pale hue of purple as well.

"I think it goes well with your clothes!" Lilly said, tugging on Echo's purple sleeve.

"It does," Echo said, making eye contact with her. Those hazels seemed to smile as well, melting the ice she had surrounded her heart with. Was this really okay? Would it be all right for her to open up to people again? She came far too close to losing Athena just yesterday, and yet, Lilly's effect on her was to thaw the prison she placed herself in.

"Are you...crying?" Lilly's voice managed to reach her.

Echo hadn't realized it, but a tear had rolled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. "I'm all right," she lied through her teeth.

Lilly sat on the grass, resting her chin atop her knees as she looked out over the pond.

"I was scared, too, you know," she said, her voice soft. "I don't have the same kind of bond you guys have with her, but seeing Athena on the ground like that...I dunno. She's like, she's the best out of all of us. I look up to her as a fellow team leader, but even more than that, she's a friend. The thought of losing her broke me up."

It wasn't that, though. Athena was so much more to Echo than just a team leader, a teammate, a partner, or even a friend. She was something far more special than any of those things. Echo would have, without a moment of hesitation, traded places with her at the point of that monster's spear.

"I have a feeling she's more to you than that, though," Lilly said.

"It's like you're reading my mind or something," Echo said with a small sniffle.

"To be honest, I probably would've willingly taken that hit instead of her."

"Okay, yeah, you literally are reading my mind now."

She chuckled. "It's true, though. I'd take a hit for any of you. I just...I don't like seeing pain. And it's not because it makes me hurt. I mean, it does, but I really just don't like to see other people in pain. If I could make any wish come true, it would be to take away people's pain. Not just physical pain either, but all of it. Doubts, sadness, anger, hatred, I'd take it all away. Do you remember that girl, Mizuki?"

"The fourth-year student?"

Lilly nodded. "She's another one that really breaks my heart. I don't know what it is, but there's something about her that doesn't allow her to be happy. I wish I could take that pain away from her."

Echo watched as she buried the lower half of her face behind her hands and knees. Underneath the perpetually happy Lilly was a much more melancholic girl, one who genuinely wished for the happiness of everyone around her, yet realized that such a wish was impossible to grant.

"Don't ever lose that hope," Echo said.

Lilly turned to her.

"If you did, I don't think I'd be able to..."

As her companion trailed off, Lilly reached over to pull the two of them closer to each other. Echo leaned her head on her shoulder, closing her eyes, allowing Lilly's warmth to completely envelop and consume the shadow in her heart.

"Maybe it's you," Echo said.

"Huh?"

"Maybe the reason Oasis never sees any snow is because of you."

Lilly smiled. "My mom has said the same thing to me. She said that the moment I was born was the moment it stopped snowing in Oasis."

"I believe it."

"Hey."

Echo looked up at her.

"Don't you think it's been long enough? The group kinda misses you, you know."

She let out a small sigh.

"C'mon."

"Can we stay here a little bit longer?"

Lilly smiled before leaning her head against hers. "Yeah. We can."

—

Leon glanced around at the stalls and vendors as he and the group walked through the commercial district of downtown Vale. The streets and walkways were thick with people and it was easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle, but it would be a simple matter to call everybody on their scrolls and meet up somewhere. He looked behind. Ingrid was standing at a stall that sold flowers and a number of other trinkets, staring at something. He smirked before sneaking over. This was one of the few times that this cat Faunus failed to detect his presence.

He reached past her, startling her as he picked out an indigo colored rose and handed it to her. She gave him a curious glance. He wasn't looking at her, but toward the clerk, who accepted his Lien.

"What?" she said, accepting the rose.

"I think it suits you," he said, giving her a grin before continuing down the walkway.

She twirled the blue rose between her fingertips before looking for him and rushing to catch up.

"What's the big idea, huh?" she asked him.

"Muffin," he said, his hands in his pockets, a satisfied grin plastered across his face.

She growled before stepping in front to block his path. "Hey, I'm being serious!"

"Me, too. I just thought, pretty flower for a pretty girl." He sidestepped her and continued on.

She reddened, looking at the rose again before catching up to him once more.

"Leon!" she said, walking backwards in front of him.

"Ingrid," he said, his lavender eyes locking with her ambers.

"Ugh! Quit messing around!"

He reached up to play with her cat ears, but she dodged swiftly, glaring at him.

"I'm warning you!"

He chuckled. "Do you like the rose?"

She froze, her cheeks warming up even more. He walked right by her and she darted to his side, looking up at his face as she walked with him. His grin was still there, eyes forward.

"Hey!" she said, grabbing his arm.

"Yes?" he said, facing her.

"Why did you get this rose for me?"

"Because I saw you staring at it and I thought you wanted it. Hell, even if you didn't want it, I figure it'd look nice on you."

Her whole body was warm now.

"Do you _not_ like it?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, I _do_ like it! Ugh, look what you did!"

He chuckled before turning to the side. "Oh, there they are."

She watched as he rejoined their group, which had congregated at a defunct fountain. Echo was seated at the very top of the dry stone structure.

"We thought we lost you guys," Perseus said, bumping fists with Leon.

"Nah, you know me," Leon said. "No kitty left behind."

They shared a chuckle.

"Oh, that's pretty!" Lilly said, admiring the indigo rose in Ingrid's hand.

"Uh, y-yeah," she said, hiding the flower behind her back.

"That's no place for a rose! Here, gimme!"

Ingrid was helpless against Lilly's persistence and she ultimately gave up the rose, reddening as her partner tucked it behind her ear.

"That's better!" Lilly said. "It goes with your coat, too!"

"Who's that from?" Xanthus asked her.

Ingrid didn't answer. Not verbally, anyway. Her body language did all the talking, the red cheeks, the shrinking shoulders, the hand to the elbow, the lack of eye contact. Xanthus looked over at Leon, who was chatting away with Perseus, before looking back to Ingrid. He pushed up his glasses, smiling to himself before rejoining the group.

"Anybody hungry?" Athena yawned. "I could eat the ass-end off a dead rhino right now."

"Ramen!" Perseus suggested.

"Ramen!" Lilly seconded.

"Ramen!" Xanthus agreed.

"I guess we're having ramen," Athena said. "Echo?"

The group's archer was preoccupied with something in the sky. She tracked it for a while before drawing an arrow and letting it soar to hit her mark dead-center.

"You weren't kidding about taking all those down," Perseus said, his mouth open.

Echo shrugged before hopping off the dry fountain and joining them. Ingrid was at the back of the group as they headed to the nearest ramen shop. At least, she thought she was the rearmost. She couldn't find Yuan anywhere. She was going to stop the rest of them when someone tapped her on the shoulder and she looked back to see their missing member.

"Oh, there you are," she said.

"Here," he said, holding out a flower for her. "I thought you'd like this."

Her eyes opened wide as she looked at the deep blue iris in his hand. "Wh-Where did you? And w-why?"

He shrugged before pinning the flower to her lapel, giving her a smile before walking to the rest of the group. Ingrid was dumbfounded. How in the world did he know that her favorite flower was the iris? More than that, two guys had just given her flowers. Leon was probably just being a troll as usual, although she really couldn't be sure anymore. And Yuan did not strike her as the type to court.

Confusion could not even begin to describe what was in her pounding heart right now. Anxiety was more like it. No, perhaps _terror_ was a better word. After all, just thinking about the meaning of the gesture made her want to drop off a shadow clone and run away.

"Ingrid!"

She looked up to spot Lilly across the street, waving to her as the rest of the group headed into the restaurant. She took a few steps forward, stopping for a bit to glance at the dark blue iris on her collar before continuing on to join Lilly.

"Oh, that flower is pretty!" Lilly said, looking closely at the iris.

"Y-Yeah, it is, isn't it?" she said.

"That's the one Yuan got you, right?"

She reddened. "How did you know?"

"Well, I was sorta watching. Nobody else noticed him leave the group to go get you a flower."

That was twice now that two of her own teammates evaded her superior Faunus detection capabilities.

All of the girls sat on one side of the table while the boys sat opposite them. Ingrid sat directly across from Leon, who sat beside Yuan. While some chatter was going on, Ingrid spent most of her time with her head down, scroll out.

Echo: _soz, u got flowers from 2 guys_

Ingrid: _im still trying to figure out wats going on_

Echo: _its obvi dude_

Echo: _remember what i said b4?_

Ingrid: _hush! im not in love with them!_

Echo: _=D_

Ingrid: _stop it!_

Echo: _xD_

In the meantime, there was scroll chatter on the other side of the table as well.

Perseus: _bruh_

Leon: _wsup_

Perseus: _u know wassup_

Leon: _u mean the flowre?_

Perseus: _u damn right. fckin smoov bruh_

Leon: _stfu man its not like that_

Perseus: _whas it like then?_

Leon: _weve known each other since we were kids k?_

Perseus: _u suuuuuuuure das it?_

Leon: _yes dammit!_

Perseus: _why u red den?_

"The fuck?" Leon said aloud.

"Huh?" Xanthus said.

"N-Nothing. Just hungry."

"I see."

"That's a pretty flower," Athena said to Echo, admiring the purple and white water lily in her hair.

"Oh," Echo said. "Th-Thanks. Lilly gave it to me."

Athena looked past her partner at Lilly, who was smiling at her.

"Oh, yeah!" Lilly said, standing up. "I meant to give this to everybody!"

She started handing out trinkets to everyone in the group.

"What's this?" Perseus said. "A flower?"

"Yup!" Lilly said. "I ran into this one shop on the way here. They were selling these little lily pins! Aren't they cute?"

"What I need to know, is how the heck you know my favorite color is bronze."

"That's a secret!"

He chuckled.

Every person at the table got matching pins, lilies made of sterling silver, each one with a small splash of their signature colors in the center, deep red for Leon, indigo for Ingrid, pale green for Yuan, bright red for Athena, purple for Echo, bronze for Perseus, and yellow for Xanthus.

"We all gotta wear this on our collars," Leon said, pinning his on the left side.

"You tryin'a hijack my team, huh?" Athena said to Lilly.

"Nah-uh!" Lilly said with a grin as she pinned her own white and silver lily to her coat collar. "I just wanted to put my flower on all my friends!"

"I think it's nice," Yuan said, pinning his to the collar along with everyone else. "It shows solidarity between our two teams."

"Yes," Xanthus said. "After all, we just might be the first eight-member team Beacon has ever seen."

"I'll drink to that," Perseus said, raising his soda glass. "To Team...uh, the hell would we even call an eight-man team?"

"To Teams APEX and LILY," Athena said, raising her own glass.

"Hey, why do you guys get to go first?" Leon whined.

"It's in alphabetical order," Echo said.

"To Teams APEX and LILY!" Lilly repeated as they shared a toast.

—

Penny leaned against the elevator as it took her to the top of Beacon tower. She sighed heavily, checking her scroll for any messages. Nothing. Not yet, anyway. She tucked a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear, but it fell right back into her face and she gave up on it. She straightened up her blouse as the elevator slowed to a halt, the doors opening up. She stepped out with confident strides, joining Qrow, Glynda, and Oscar, who were gathered around the headmaster's desk.

"Just in time, Penny," Oscar said.

"Headmaster Pine," she greeted. "Assistant Headmaster Goodwitch. Qrow."

"Hey, what's with that?" Qrow groaned.

"You know what's up with that."

"All right," Oscar said. "Let's talk about what happened yesterday."

"Aside from Professor Branwen's terrible idea," Penny began, "yesterday went well. Teams APEX and LILY proved that they have more than what it takes to be some of the best Huntsmen Beacon has ever trained. I guess it's not unexpected considering their lineage, but still."

"Qrow tells us Lilly herself showed some surprising abilities," Glynda said.

"Yes. I am of the belief that she utilized the same rune power that we saw back in the war. We don't yet know the extent of her power since she only used it once, at least, according to the other students. But her rune abilities aside, there is the problem of the Skinwalker among that group. I did not detect any others, but the fact that one made it within Vale's borders is alarming."

"We have scanners throughout the city to deal with such a thing," Oscar said, "but yes, it is alarming that one would get so close to the city. And there is also the issue of the four Omega Grimm that you faced out there."

"Yeah," Qrow said. "We haven't seen those assholes in ten years. Why the hell are they showing up now?"

"Perhaps our enemies are starting to make their move again."

"They haven't given up on freeing Salem from her prison," Glynda said. "Reports from the other kingdoms say something similar, that there's a sharp increase in Grimm activity, threatening even the newest settlements outside the capital cities."

"I hear, Miss Penny," Oscar began, "that you defeated four of those Omega Grimm single-handedly."

"Actually, I used both hands," she said with a smirk. "And my feet."

Oscar chuckled. "That is quite the impressive feat, you know."

"'Feat,' huh? Sounds like you're speaking the Yanguage."

He chuckled again.

"Well, I've learned a bit since the last time I fought one of those things. They're really strong and fast, too, but being intelligent, they also have an ego. They tend to underestimate their enemies. And they'll even gloat."

"Like they're sadistic by nature," Qrow said.

"Exactly. And I took advantage of those weaknesses."

"Well, it's a good thing you arrived when you did," Oscar said. "Athena might not have survived if it weren't for you. None of them might have survived."

"No thanks to Qrow's ridiculous plan." She expected Oscar and Glynda to agree with her and when they didn't, she couldn't hold her silence. "Don't tell me you guys condone what he did."

"It certainly is important to push them to their limits," Glynda said. "And while I do agree that discretion is necessary in such methods, Professor Branwen tends to deliver results."

"You guys can't be serious," Penny sighed. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. If that's all you need from me, I'll be returning to my duties."

"Penny," Oscar began as she started walking away. "Keep an eye on them, would you?"

"Isn't that what I'm already doing?" she said as the elevator door closed. She leaned her forehead against the cold steel. She had to get out of there quick. That callousness was more than she could bear.

 _Be strong,_ she told herself. _Everybody's counting on you._


	15. Chapter XV

CHAPTER XV

 _The Purest Bloom_

The first three months came and went. Team APEX was still at the top of the first-year pack, even competing with upperclassmen for top spot academy-wide. Xanthus maintained his perfect academic record while the rest of his team scored more than well enough to pass, including Echo, who was now managing a 3.0 average. Lilly was the only one of the gang to score below a 3.0, holding steady at 2.9, though she was planning to change that with today's exam, which was weighted much more heavily than any other that preceded.

"Lilly," Qrow said, setting her graded test face-down. "You should be proud of yourself."

Her eyes opened wide as she flipped the packet over.

 _100%_

She began to cry, putting a finger to her mouth and softly biting it.

"Nice work," Ingrid said, leaning past her shoulder.

Just then, that old feeling came over Lilly and she closed her eyes, smiling as the sensation passed.

"What's up?" Ingrid asked.

"I don't think I've ever told you the story," she said. "Ever since I was a kid, there's always been this...thing."

"Thing?"

"Yeah. It was strongest back when I was a little girl. It always felt like something was at my side, watching me, I guess."

"What, like a guardian angel?"

"Not really. It never really did anything to actually keep me safe, you know? It never fought off bullies or monsters or anything like that. It just...made me warm inside. Kinda like that feeling when you come home and see your mom after a long time away."

"Weird. So, a ghost, then."

She giggled. "My mom used to call it that all the time. It's been a long while since the last time I felt its presence, though. Until I was ten years old, it was always strong, and always there, almost daily, even. As I grew older, it slowly faded away. After my fifth birthday, it would only show up during important milestones of my life. At ten, it became less and less frequent and less intense. When I turned fifteen, that was the last time I would feel its regular presence. After my birthday, it would only show up during the most important events, like graduation, my birthday, stuff like that."

"Sounds like you grew up."

"Huh?"

"My little sister used to have an imaginary friend, too."

Lilly reddened. "I-It's more than just an imaginary friend!"

Ingrid embraced her tightly from behind.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Lilly! You're not allowed to grow up, okay?"

"What?"

"Yeah!" Leon joined in. "You're our baby!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Our little Lilly!" Athena said, adding herself to the group embrace.

" _Little_?"

"Yeah!" Perseus said as he also joined. "Never change!"

Before long, all of her friends were piled around her, all except Echo, who chuckled upon seeing Lilly's not-so-amused face.

"Echo, why aren't you joining in?" Xanthus asked, fixing his eyeglasses, which were pushed off-center by the giant group hug.

"Because I don't think she appreciates the implication," she said.

"Guys," Lilly said flatly. "I'm older than all of you."

The ruckus ceased instantly.

"I think she's right," Yuan said. "You're turning eighteen next month, right?"

"Uh-huh," Lilly said.

"Wait, what?" Athena said, backing away. "I always thought you were the youngest."

"I believe it's because of her free spirit," Xanthus said. "Although, I suppose we're all kind of the same way."

"Whoa," Perseus said. "Next month? January?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, you're the eldest. I'm not eighteen for another three months after that. April first. And before anyone starts joking about that, hah-hah, there, I laughed in advance."

Chuckles went around.

"What about everybody else?" Xanthus said. "I'm turning eighteen in February. The twenty-ninth."

"May 21," Ingrid said.

"May 12," Leon and Athena said simultaneously before glaring at each other.

"Jinx!" Athena said. "Hah! You owe _me_ a soda now!"

"Whatever, jerk," Leon said.

"Don't be sour, bitch."

"What about you?" Xanthus asked Yuan.

"June 15," he said.

"Ah, a June Bug, huh?" the former said, to which Yuan shrugged.

"That explains the pale green color," Ingrid said with a smile, making him smile back at her. She blushed and turned away quickly.

"Looks like somebody wants to be somebody else's June Bug," Perseus whispered to Athena, who chuckled.

"What about you, Echo?" Leon asked.

"September 17," she said.

"Wait, as in, you just turned eighteen, or you enrolled at sixteen?"

She shrugged.

"Whoa. Are _you_ the baby of the group?"

She shrugged again, playing with her hands behind her back.

"Oooh!" Lilly said, balling her fists out of pure joy. "Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?" she demanded.

"I mean, it wasn't important," she said.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Athena said, her face showing irritation. "Why wouldn't that be important?"

She shrugged.

"Okay, we're throwing you a three-month-late bash," Perseus said. "I'm gonna dip into my dad's account for this shit."

"That's not necessary," she said.

"Psh. I owe you for all those drones you've been shooting down. That makes, what, more than fifteen now?"

"I took down the twentieth one this morning."

He chuckled. "There you go. Let's go to the pier later. Like I said, on me."

"You're not saying no," Athena said, standing right next to her. "I don't care how antisocial you think you are. It's not like you haven't known _us_ for the last three and a half months."

"Everybody, wear your nice coats!" Lilly said, standing up from her seat and jumping in the air.

—

Despite being the birthday celebrant, Echo was, as always, the rearmost of the group, spending most of her time observing rather than interacting. Lilly was at the very front, her hazel eyes brimming with energy, constantly talking with everyone else and running from stall to stall, absorbing everything. They may as well have been opposites, at least personality-wise. The fact was that they shared a lot more than she figured, such as their constant attention to their surroundings and their unrivaled protective spirit.

This ideology was what brought her to give her longbow the name Sentinel. It was the perfect appellation to a weapon she tasked with the purpose of protecting everyone important to her. And of all the people who took priority before everyone else, Lilly was at the very top. Athena still had her undying loyalty, but she could easily protect herself, though her near-death encounter drove a certain amount of fear into Echo's heart that she could neither deny nor escape.

Although Lilly wasn't the actual youngest of the group, as had been established today, Echo could not ignore the fact that she had the brightest spirit out of everyone. She might not need protecting in the same way a child might, but her soul certainly needed to be shielded from what the world had to offer. Echo would never allow Lilly to experience the terrors she had gone through back home.

"Hey!" Lilly said loudly enough to make Echo jump. "Oh! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"You didn't scare me," Echo chuckled. "Startled, yeah."

She giggled. "C'mon! They have, uh, this, uh, thing over there that looks yummy! I just don't have any idea what it is. You wanna try it with me?"

Echo shrugged with a smile before following the brave and adventurous Lilly to the stall she had been raving about. She was definitely right about the food. It looked yummy, but it was nothing either of them recognized. Echo had grown up in a village isolated from the rest of the world and everything was foreign to her, but Lilly, too, had been sheltered her whole life, only ever venturing into the town of Oasis from her home in the outskirts. That small town had nothing like what Vale had to offer.

Echo stood behind Lilly as they lined up. She hadn't noticed until now that she wore her snow-white hair down today. In the three months since she had gotten her hair cut, it had grown again, falling down to her middle back. It was then that she realized that she, too, wore her dark brown hair down today instead of the usual high ponytail she always donned for possible combat purposes.

That's right. Today was different from the other days. Ever since enrolling at Beacon, Echo was always ready for battle at a moment's notice, carrying Sentinel with her at all times, quivers on her back and at either side overflowing with arrows. But now, her weapon was left on campus. She could always call on them and have them delivered directly to her location, but having them at her side was an entirely different thing altogether. The rest of the group seemed comfortable enough without their weapons, but it was different for Echo. She kept Sentinel by her side at all times back home.

"What's wrong?" Ingrid said as she stood beside her. "Feeling naked?"

"A little," Echo said. "You didn't leave Shadow Blitz behind."

"Yeah, well, a staff is a little less conspicuous compared to a longbow. Or a scythe. Or a rapier. Or a giant Eastern spear halberd thingy. I'm actually surprised you were able to leave your bow behind."

"Me, too."

It was probably because it had been months since their first days at Beacon. She was starting to let her guard down.

No, that wasn't it at all. It's not that she was getting careless. It was that she was finally allowing herself to trust in everybody.

"Okay!" Lilly said, turning to them with the plate of golden-brown crispy snack delight.

"So," Echo said.

"First bite together?"

"Okay."

They both took a flaky crescent from the plate. Echo had never tasted anything so amazing in her life. It was an incredible blend of savory sweetness with a texture that broke apart before she even started chewing.

"Oh my goodness!" Lilly said. "This is amazing!"

"You guys have never had onion rings before?" Ingrid said with a chuckle.

"Onion rings?"

"That's what those are."

"Huh?"

"You know, onions that you slice up and then season and deep fry? Except that these guys didn't slice it up. They sorta cut it into that flower thing you're holding."

Neither Lilly nor Echo had any idea something as simple as onions could taste so amazing.

"You guys really haven't had these before," Ingrid said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Really!" Lilly said, trying another bite. "Mmm! These are so good!"

"See, now, Echo, I understand, since she grew up as a wood sprite," Ingrid said.

"Wood sprite?" Echo said.

"Shit, I just channeled Leon and his stupid video games."

"You've been channeling him a lot lately."

Ingrid's face went flush. "I _am_ on the same team as him."

"And you grew up together!" Lilly said, beaming.

She could feel her face heating up even more.

"Yeah," Echo added, "childhood sweet—"

"Don't you even!" Ingrid cut her off.

"Huh?" Lilly said. "Childhood sweet? Sweet what?"

"Lilly!"

"Ohh! Sweethearts!"

"Oh, look," Echo said. "She's the same color as Leon's jacket."

Ingrid growled before stomping away to hang out with Athena instead.

"You made my partner rage quit," Lilly said with a frown.

"Yeah, but it was fun," Echo said, to which both giggled.

Meanwhile, the four boys had been embroiled in a heated air-rifle battle at one of the booths. Having had the most experience with rifle shooting, Leon won the match by a landslide.

"How's that for marksmanship, hmm?" he said, putting a hand on his hip.

"So," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses, "which prize are you getting?"

"He's gonna get the giant stuffed cat," Perseus whispered to Yuan, who chuckled. "Just you watch."

"That one," Leon said to the clerk, who handed him a giant stuffed bear.

"Your prediction was incorrect," Yuan said to Perseus, who laughed.

"He probably heard me."

They watched as he walked over to Athena, handing her the stuffed bear. She shrieked as she squeezed the bear before grabbing him in a headlock and giving him a noogie.

"You just wuv yer big sista, doncha?" Athena said as he struggled.

"Hey!" he whined. "You're messing up my hair!" He managed to break free and dodge her second attempt to snare him. He reached into his coat to pull out a stuffed cat and handed it to Ingrid. "Got you something, too," he said before leaving to rejoin the guys.

Athena watched as Ingrid hugged the stuffed toy before the latter noticed her grin.

"What?" Ingrid said, reddening as she scowled.

"Muffin," Athena chuckled.

The sun was getting closer to the horizon when the group gathered together again at the very end of the pier.

"Let's watch the sunset together!" Lilly said, perching against the wooden railing overlooking the ocean.

Echo stood right next to her, tentatively testing out the integrity of the banister before leaning forward on it as well. Lilly's snow-white hair caught the wind and blew into Echo's face and she found herself sneezing as her nose received the brunt of the assault of fine threads.

"Lilly just made Echo Schneeze!" Leon said, which prompted a high five from Perseus and dry looks from Athena and Ingrid.

"Hey, wait!" Lilly said, darting over to a booth before returning with a long rod-like object.

"What is that?" Ingrid said. "Oh, a selfie stick."

"C'mon!" Lilly said as she fitted her scroll into the other end. "Everybody get in the shot!"

Team LILY stuck together with Yuan at the far end, Leon between him and Ingrid, and Lilly with Echo in the middle followed by Athena, Perseus, and Xanthus. The photo was perfect, catching the entire group along with the sun just barely touching the ocean and sending a ray of light in their direction. As expected, the most energetic poses came from Leon, Lilly, Athena, and Perseus while the other four were more subdued.

"Happy belated birthday, Echo!" Lilly said, giving her a tight hug, which the rest of the group joined in on shortly.

"Careful!" Echo said. "We might break the railing!"

"Hey, I wasn't kidding when I said dinner was on me tonight," Perseus said. "I've gotta spoil my friends."

"Someplace expensive, then?" Leon said with a grin.

"Hell yeah."

"It's gotta be good, though," Athena said. "I'm not down for expensive shit that tastes like shit. Like those stupid bars that serve nothing but wings and have girls dressed in completely sexist clothing."

"You mean _sexy_ clothing," Perseus said, to which she and Ingrid rolled their eyes. "Are you guys steak people?"

"Oh, I know just the spot," Leon said. "There's a steak house at the beginning of the pier. We used to eat there quite a bit whenever we'd go across the channel to Vale from Patch. Their prime cut is bomb. Y'all gotta try it."

"Everybody okay with that?" Lilly asked the group. There were no objections. "All right, then, let's go!"

She led the way with Athena and Perseus while Ingrid lagged behind with Echo.

"Still not used to the big crowds, huh?" Ingrid said.

"I'm never gonna get used to it," Echo said.

"Me neither. I can manage, but I friggin' hate crowds. Especially the ones that get all touchy like in the middle of the city."

"Yeah."

"Hey, uh," Yuan said, slowing down to walk in pace with them. "Ingrid."

"Hey, what's up?" she said.

"Do you...do you like necklaces?"

She reddened. "Um, sure, I guess."

"Okay, cuz, I got you this."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver necklace with a dark blue rock set into a teardrop-shaped pendant. Her eyes opened wide as she took the stone in her hand, admiring the intricate bands of color. Though most of it was dark blue in color, there were instances of near-black indigo and bits of gold.

"This is lapis lazuli," she said. "Where did you get it?"

"I actually picked it up a while back," he said. "Been meaning to give it to you. Just never found the time. May I?"

Her whole body was warm as she handed the pendant back to him to put around her neck. She caught a glimpse of Echo, who was standing off to the side, grinning the entire time. Ingrid gave her a sharp look before reaching up to move her hair out of the way. She felt a tingle run up and down her back as he reached over her head, the light touch of his fingers and the silver chain making her want to melt into a puddle of Ingrid.

"There," he said, standing in front of her.

"Looks good," Echo said, her grin bigger than ever. She eyed the stuffed kitty Leon had gotten her earlier in the day, wondering which among the two won Ingrid's favor.

Ingrid gave Echo a hard pinch in the side as she passed by her, following just behind Yuan.

"I know what you're thinking," Ingrid said as Echo caught up. "And you can stow it."

"I dunno what you're talkin' about," Echo said.

Just as Leon had promised, the steak they had for dinner was great, certainly worthy of the amount of Lien they had paid for it. The night was still young, though, and instead of taking a bus back to campus, they decided to stroll through the streets of Vale. Besides that, it was a Friday, and all they had planned for the weekend was studying for finals.

"Hey!" Lilly said, turning to face the group.

"Ahh!" Perseus said, jumping back away from her. "Don't scare me like that!"

She giggled. "So, Winter Formal is coming up, right?"

"Yes," Xanthus said as he pushed his glasses up. "I am having a bit of trouble coordinating with the rest of my planning committee. Everyone seems to have run out of ideas. Apparently, last year's graduating class took care of all the dances for the entire four years of their tenure and no one ever bothered to learn from them."

"I'll help you plan!"

He tilted his head in thought. Lilly's fresh ideas would certainly be welcome. "Very well, then. We're meeting tomorrow at around lunch to do some of the preliminary planning."

"I won't be late!"

"Speaking of that," Leon said. "Are we all just gonna go as a big group? Xanthus was suggesting that a while back."

"I'm down," Ingrid said.

"You sure you don't wanna go as my date?" he said as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Oh, goodness," she said, wrenching herself free. "I'm sure. Thanks. I think I'm gonna go with Lilly."

"I'm going with Lilly, too," Yuan said.

"I'm in," Perseus said. "Lilly's going with a harem this time, huh?"

"Hey!" Lilly said, her eyebrows furrowed. "Did anybody bother to ask Lilly if she wants to go with all of you?"

"So, you'll go with all of us as your date?" Athena said, a hand on her hip.

"Well, sure!"

"That settles it," Leon chuckled. "Our new team name is Team Lilly Harem."

Chuckles went around the group.

They were on campus when the group broke up. Xanthus went to meet with the student council for a last-minute thing while Yuan went to study in the library and Athena hit the training halls with Perseus and her brother. Echo remained in the quad with Lilly and Ingrid, the latter of whom stayed at the rim of the big manmade pool while Lilly and Echo leaped across to hang out on the big knight statue in the middle.

Lilly sat on the edge of the pedestal, her feet dangling just above the surface of the water. She sighed as she thought about how far they'd all come in just the last three months alone. Although she had brought up Winter Formal, the real thing on everybody's minds—and the reason Athena, Perseus, and Leon were now training—was the upcoming Vytal Festival and the tournament that would accompany it.

Echo hopped down from the statue's shoulder, landing gently beside Lilly. She took a seat next to her, watching Ingrid as she played with her scroll. She noticed a smile on their cat Faunus friend's face.

"You think she's texting Yuan or Leon right now?" Echo chuckled.

"Both," Lilly giggled.

That giggle again. It was as though Lilly were magic or something. It seemed she were capable of dispelling any bad atmosphere with just a smile or the sound of her voice. It only further empowered Echo, on whose mind all night long was the unrivaled swagger of Leon Rose and the undaunted bravery of Yuan Ren. Even though both guys were probably aware of the other's actions and feelings toward Ingrid, neither backed down.

"Hey, Lilly," Echo said, turning to her. She felt her face instantly flush.

"Huh?" Lilly said, facing Echo. Her light brown hazel eyes locked with Echo's light green hazels. She noticed that her friend's face was red. She was about to comment on it when she found herself with Echo's lips against hers.

Echo backed away. In the heat of the moment, she had completely abandoned the speech she had been formulating in her head and just went ahead and kissed her, but from the look of utter shock on Lilly's face, she knew she had done the wrong thing.

"I-I'm sorry," Echo said, standing up and stepping back.

"Hey, wait," Lilly said, quick to her feet as she sensed the panic in her companion.

"I shouldn't have—"

"Echo, wait."

Echo was in the middle of fleeing when she stopped and turned around to face Lilly.

"I'm sorry, you just sorta caught me off-guard." She let out a heavy sigh. "Hear me out. I'm pretty sure I get how you're feeling right now, cuz I can see you _actually_ trembling, and I hate to be the one to let people down, but I'm not into girls."

Echo looked at the ground. She had a feeling this would be the case. It wasn't as though she were expecting it to be any different with Lilly. But she had hoped.

"That said," Lilly began, taking a deep breath, "I'm not running away from you, so don't you run away from me like what you did with Athena."

That hurt. Echo understood that Lilly didn't mean for it to, but it hurt, much deeper than she realized it would. Before she knew it, though, Lilly had her arms wrapped around her and her whole body froze and melted at the same time.

"I don't mean to confuse you," Lilly said, "but I'm not one to run away just because I got a little startled. I love you, Echo. Maybe not in the way you want me to, but I do." She held her at arms length and locked eyes with her. "And besides that. I don't think it's me that you're in love with."

Echo's heart skipped a beat.

"That's right. You know who I'm talking about. Why don't we go see her?"

"Y-You're not...you know, feeling awkward about what just happened?"

Lilly shook her head with a smile. "I kinda saw it coming. I figured it would happen eventually, but I could also see that your heart belongs to someone else. I mean, when we first started out here, you stuck to her, but ever since that day, you've been avoiding her, only keeping watch over her from afar. Which is weird because she's your partner. But I'm guessing it's because you care about her so much that you don't want to get too close. Because getting too close causes the pain of separation to be all the more unbearable, right?"

Her instinct was amazing. Every single thing Lilly had just said hit the mark with more accuracy than Echo's own archery skill.

"I told you before that I don't like to see others in pain, especially you guys. I care about all of you more than anyone else. And, you must have noticed too that she's a little irritated by your constant distance. She's not the kind of girl to let her feelings show very easily, but it shows in the most subtle of ways."

Echo let out a heavy sigh. Even though this moment had been a bit of a letdown, the way Lilly dealt with it made it not hurt so much. In fact, she had to admit that it even did more healing than anything else.

"C'mon," Lilly said, standing at the edge of the pedestal. "Let's go join them."

Echo watched as Lilly soared through the air, her snow white hair fluttering in the wind as she glided over to land beside Ingrid, who flinched at her arrival.

"What's with you being so jumpy nowadays?" Lilly said to her partner. "Aren't you supposed to be a Faunus?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ingrid growled as she stood up.

Lilly giggled. "I know what's bugging you, b-t-dubs. C'mon! Let's go see him!"

"W-What? S-See who?"

"Echo! What are you waiting for?"

Echo couldn't help but smile to herself before leaping across the pond to join them.


	16. Chapter XVI

CHAPTER XVI

 _Heart's Anxiety_

The final exam for this semester came and went. Xanthus maintained his perfect grade, setting a record 4.0 grade point average. Along with his practical field scores, he had the highest marks of any first-year student in Beacon Academy's history. He wasn't the only good performer, though. Lilly, who had once been at the bottom of the entire roster, was now keeping up with their group of friends. She wasn't the strongest performer quite yet, but she was getting there. She and Echo were tied at the bottom of their pack, which was still higher than the other students.

"Man, you guys really do intend on being the best teams Beacon's ever seen, huh?" Paolo said.

Lilly turned around to face Team PDTR's handsome leader. "Yup!" she said with a big smile. "We sure do!"

"Well, just wanted to let you know that we're right on your heels."

"That's why we're doing so great," Ingrid said. "Cuz we got all of you guys to help push us along."

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing. Seeing your strong performance inspires not just our team, but even the not-so-good ones to git gud. And hell, Miss Schnee here is an inspiration. She went from bottom of the roster to number eight. Speaking of which, either of you wanna go to the dance with me and Demetri?"

"I would," Lilly began, "but I already have a date."

"What about you, Ingrid?"

"I would, too," she began, "but Lilly's my date."

He chuckled. "I had a feeling that was the case."

"Hey!" Lilly said. "Why don't you ask Octavia? I mean, it would be cool if your whole team can go to the dance with her whole team, don't you think?"

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea. But I'm still gonna ask you two for a dance when the day comes, 'kay?" He winked as he walked away.

"That guy gives me the creeps," Ingrid said.

"You mean, the Alpha Creeps?" Lilly said, beaming.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Has he infected you?"

"Not as much as he's infected _you_!"

Ingrid's whole body went cold. "You did not just say that."

Lilly giggled.

"Lilly. I believed in you. I had faith in you. I _trusted_ you."

"I know! And I'm just being a good friend and partner!"

"My heart. Oh, my heart. Lilly, you were supposed to be the pure one out of all of us!"

"I _am_ pure! I also recognize true love when I see it!"

Ingrid's cat ears went nearly flat. "Stop it!" she whispered loudly. "They're both standing right there!"

Lilly giggled. "You better make up your mind, then!"

"Lilly," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses as he approached her. "The planning committee is having one last conference to discuss final details for the dance."

"What time?"

"Six o'clock."

"I'll be there! Oooh! I can't believe we've only got a week left until the dance!"

"I'm gonna wear my best suit," Leon said. "What're you wearing?"

"I called my mom for ideas," Lilly said. "I think I know exactly what I'm gonna wear."

"It better be good, since your date is all of us," he chuckled.

"Yup! It's the nicest dress ever!"

"What about you, Ingrid? Are you gonna be the...Belladonna of the ball?"

Ingrid let out a mixed sigh-groan.

"I like it!" Lilly said, giving Leon a high-five.

"At least she appreciates it," Leon said, reaching up to play with Ingrid's cat ears. As always, she was just too fast for him to get a hold of them.

"Yuan, have you picked out a suit?" Lilly said.

"Not yet," he said. "But I do have an idea."

"Oooh! Do you have a picture?"

He shook his head.

"Darn! You're gonna make me wait a week to see it?"

He nodded.

"Ahh! I can't handle the suspense!"

He chuckled.

"Okay, students," Qrow began, "congratulations on passing the first course of your first year at Beacon. Next semester, you'll be taking the intermediate course. We'll be covering practical field application of everything you've learned in this class."

"Awesome!" Lilly said, making him chuckle.

"I'm glad everyone passed. It gets real awkward when somebody gets left behind and has to take winter classes. I would tell all of you brats to enjoy your winter break, but I'm your teacher and I have to tell you that you should study blah blah blah, but if you end up partying all month long, I promise I won't tell Headmaster Pine." He winked.

Some of the students chuckled.

"Crap. Your class president is glaring at me."

Xanthus looked around as a number of eyes went to him. "Huh? I'm not doing anything!" he said.

"I'm just bustin' your balls, kid," Qrow chuckled. "Enjoy your break!"

"So," Perseus said as he and his team joined Team LILY in the aisle. "Where to? This is our first hour of break."

"You think the statue's big enough for all eight of us to sit around it?" Lilly said.

"Probably. It is pretty big."

"That's what she said!" Leon and Athena both said at the same time before high-fiving each other.

"Goodness gracious," Ingrid said, putting a hand to her forehead. That momentary lapse of attention was enough for Leon to finally manage to grab one of her cat ears and she smacked his hand away, hissing at him.

"You're gonna get your eyes scratched out one of these days," Athena said, folding her arms across her chest.

"If it's by her," Leon said with a grin, "I don't mind."

Ingrid balled her fists, growling at him before pouncing. He barely dodged her attack, yelling as he ran up the aisle, but she was quick and evading her onslaught was impossible.

"Halp!" he yelled as he sidestepped and ducked and leaped over desks and chairs.

"Sorry," Perseus said, scratching his head. "This is something I don't wanna get involved in."

"Same," Yuan said. "Besides, you look like you're having a lot of fun."

"What?" Leon cried as he rolled out of the way, dodging a swing from Ingrid's staff. "You're supposed to be my partner!"

Echo and Lilly shared a giggle as Ingrid landed on top of his shoulders, grabbing his ears and wringing them. He yelled before falling face flat. Ingrid was quick to get him into an armbar and he tapped on the ground.

"Okay!" he yelled. "Mercy! _Mercy_!"

"Hmph," Ingrid said, releasing his arm. "Just try and touch my ears again."

"Ow! Why do you have to be so violent all the time?"

"Hey, you deserved every bit of that," Athena said.

"I have to agree with her," Perseus said.

"Same," Yuan said.

"You people call yourselves friends," Leon scoffed, dusting his jacket and fixing up his hair. "Ugh, I gotta get my highlights redone. Hey, why don't we head to the mall again today?"

"I have a meeting to go to with Xanthus, though," Lilly said.

"Oh, right, for that thing with the thing and the thing."

She giggled. "Let's go the week before the dance! It's gonna suck if we all get our hair done and it's all messed up again when the night comes."

"I guess it's off to the quad, then."

Penny was already at the pool when the group arrived. She was standing at the west end as always, facing the statue, which stood guard over the school. She turned to the eight as they approached her.

"Oh, hey, guys!" she said, giving them a wave.

"Hi, Penny!" Lilly said before skipping to her and giving her a hug.

"Hey, you're not in a dress this time!"

"I know. My mom always got me dresses and stuff, but I kinda like jeans and a t-shirt better. And besides, it's too cold right now for a dress.

"Tell me about it. I had to get thicker tights cuz of the weather. Hey, Leon!"

"Hi," he said before giving her a bashful grin.

"Oh, c'mon, enough with that shy act! It doesn't suit you at all!"

He reddened.

"You're the only one who can make him blush like that," Ingrid said.

Penny giggled. "It's probably just another tactic he uses on girls all the time, huh?"

"If it is, it's a new one."

"C'mon," Leon sighed.

"Race you to the statue!" Perseus said before jumping.

"Not this time, son!" Leon yelled, leaping at the same time. One tiny mistake in the angle was all it took for them to collide in midair, sending both splashing into the pool. Penny and Lilly couldn't help but laugh.

"That's not a swimming pool, guys," Athena said before throwing her shield and spear and using her ferromagnetic Semblance to hoist both boys out of the water.

"Did you really have to crash into me like that?" Perseus said.

"The fuck, man?" Leon said. " _You_ hit _me_!"

"That's it. We're settling this at next semester's combat training."

"You're on, dude."

"Okay, okay, you both have big dicks," Athena said.

"Oh, dude, why did you have to say that?" Leon said.

Lilly chuckled before watching Echo somersault several times until she landed on the statue's head, graceful as ever. Ingrid's flight and landing were similarly nimble, but she targeted the hands resting on top of the sword's hilt, taking a seat as Echo sat on the shoulder, leaning against the head.

"Okay, then," Athena said as she prepared her shield for some air surfing. " _Water_ we waiting for, huh?"

"I can never figure out who's worse," Ingrid said with a sigh, "you or your brother."

"Hey!" Glynda said as she stomped toward them.

Athena lost her balance and nearly fell into the water, but managed to stay dry.

"What are all of you doing?" the assistant headmaster continued.

"Trying to get dry, for starters," Perseus said, wringing the last bits of his clothing.

"That statue is not a park bench! It is an important monument to some of the most important people to walk this earth!"

"Uh, they're probably volunteering to keep it clean, right, guys?" Penny said.

"Yes!" Leon said, straightening up. "I volunteer as tribute!"

"Hmm," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "I think I'm going to start a new club on campus."

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Athena asked.

"Something to keep the city nice and clean. Ever since the population exploded, the urban districts have become strained and I have noticed on a lot of our outings that some of the parks and monuments can get really dirty before nightfall."

"Spoken like a born leader," Perseus said. "You've got my vote, Mr. President."

Xanthus chuckled. "It'll have to wait until next semester, though."

"You kids seem to be having fun," Oscar said as he joined the group.

"They are defacing the knight statue!" Glynda said.

Oscar looked over to Echo and Ingrid, who were perched on the statue's shoulder and hands, respectively. "On the contrary, I think they're doing a fine job keeping the birds off of the marble."

"You're condoning this behavior?"

"I think I heard them say something about volunteering to keep the statue and campus clean?"

"Yes, sir!" Leon said, still as stiff as a board, making Lilly giggle. "I volunteer as tribute!"

"There you have it. All of you, keep up the good work. Teams LILY and APEX have shown the greatest amount of promise in the last decade. I would like to say that it is a privilege to be headmaster with such excellent pedigree attending our school." He turned to Lilly, whose smile never left her face. "Your parents would be so proud of you."

The other eyes turned to Lilly. It wasn't lost on anyone in this group that Lilly's father had never been mentioned. Not even once. Everyone else had grown up with both their parents, but Lilly only ever spoke about her mom. They all figured it would come up eventually, but no one ever had the heart to actually do it.

"Thanks!" she said, beaming.

Oscar smiled before turning to leave with Glynda. "The Vytal Festival is coming up. I hope you're all aware of that."

"I'll whip them up into shape in no time!" Penny said with a smile.

"Speaking of that," Lilly said, turning to her, "we're still on for tonight, right?"

"If you've got the time, sure!"

"'Kay!"

"What's happening tonight?" Athena asked.

"Oh, just staying in shape," Lilly said. "C'mon, we're supposed to be hanging out on the statue, right? _Water_ we waiting for?"

"Lilly!" Ingrid yelled from across the pool. "Not you, too!"

—

"That went well," Xanthus said as he and Lilly left the Winter Formal planning committee. "They've all taken very kindly to your ideas."

"I planned my high school's prom, so I kinda figured they'd like it!" she said.

"Ah, I see. You've adapted it to the Academy just fine, though."

"I'm just nervous about mingling with the upperclassmen."

"I'll ask them not to be so fixated on your lineage."

"I mean, that's not what bothers me." She paused. "Well, I guess it does. But I mean like all the guys who've been here for years and stuff and they're all probably already almost full blown Huntsmen cuz they probably take on all the missions against real Grimm and without any supervision from the teachers right?"

He chuckled. "I got something about 'full blown Huntsmen.'"

She gasped. "Sorry!"

"It's okay, Machinegun Lilly," Ingrid said as she joined them.

"Hey!" Lilly said, turning to her partner.

"That nickname will never leave you, I think," Xanthus said. "I'll see you two later. I'm going to study with Yuan at the library for a bit. Either of you want to join us?"

"Of course Ingrid wants to join!" Lilly said.

"Lilly," Ingrid growled.

"Oh, uh, I mean, we'd _love_ to join, but we're gonna go for a jog!"

Xanthus chuckled. "Okay, you two have fun."

Lilly watched as he disappeared down the hall before turning to her partner, who was red-faced and fuming. She chuckled at the sight.

"You are worse than Echo," Ingrid snarled.

"There, there," Lilly said, reaching up to pet her cat ear.

"Hey! Don't treat me like a cat!"

"You're my Kitty Bae, though!" Lilly said, throwing an arm around her shoulder as she led the way out of the building to the quad. They were on their way to their regular coffee shop when she noticed Leon sitting on a small, grassy knoll beneath a tree, facing away from them. She was going to greet him, but stopped upon hearing what sounded like guitar-playing.

Lilly listened intently. He wasn't just playing the guitar. He was singing as well. The wind caught his ear-length black hair, blowing it to the side as the breeze carried his voice over to her. She had never imagined such a soothing melody could leave his mouth, but there it was.

"I thought he left that thing back home," Ingrid said.

"Huh?" Lilly said.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Wait, you knew that he plays guitar and sings?"

"I mean, we _did_ kinda grow up together."

"How come you never told me?"

"Uh, it's kinda random, so it never came up?"

Lilly walked over to another tree to spy on him from behind it. She pressed up against the bark, peering from around it to listen to his singing. The song he played was soft, but harmonious, uplifting in its tone, but with its beat slow. He missed a high note, his voice cracking, and Lilly giggled as he cleared his throat.

"What are you hiding for?" Ingrid asked her.

"I'm not hiding!" Lilly whispered back.

"And why are you whispering?"

"Oh, he sees us!" Lilly said as she hid herself completely behind the tree.

Ingrid turned to him and he immediately grinned, using his Semblance to teleport to her and shower her with a cloud of rose petals. He began playing his guitar in front of her.

"Ingrid!" he sang, "your smile! It brightens up my day!"

"What," Ingrid began, "the," she continued, "hell," she finished.

"You don't like my song?" he said with a grin.

She sighed before throwing a hand to her face and shaking her head. "You've been singing that really crappy tune since you first picked up a guitar."

"Would you rather I play something serious, then?"

She felt her face warm up as he started plucking a quiet song, looking elsewhere as he began singing. Her heart raced as the sheer desire to drop off a shadow clone and flee overcame her, but her feet remained planted in the grass. She couldn't look away from him. This certainly was not the first time she'd heard him sing, but this was the first time she truly heard him sing. At least, it was the first time she listened with intent.

"How was that?" he said, grinning to her.

She wanted to say something snide back to him, but the words failed to form in her mind.

"Ingrid?"

"H-Huh?" she said, the sound of her name jolting her from her trance.

"Yo, why you spacin' out on me?"

"I wasn't spacing out!"

"Psh. You always zone out when I play and sing for you. You bum."

"What?"

"I'm just kidding! I know you like to tune me out, but damn, girl, give a guy a break!"

She reddened. That was the thing. She hadn't tuned him out this time. She had absorbed every single pluck of the string, every single word from his lips, every single angelic melody. Leon Rose could easily have the voice of a rock star. He had just the perfect amount of rasp when it was called for, but his voice could be equally soothing all the same.

She hadn't noticed that her hairs were standing on end.

"Ingrid?" Leon's voice reached her.

She looked right into his lavender eyes. He was genuinely concerned now. He had every reason to be. By now, she would have come up with some kind of witty remark or an insult or two, or a smack to the head, but when none of that came, even Leon began to feel the anxiety in the air and he started to fidget.

"Hey, uh, you hungry?" Leon said, trying to break the tension.

"W-What?" Ingrid said.

"I said, are you hungry?"

She didn't answer, but Lilly answered for her, seeing her partner in a bind.

"I'm hungry!" she said, popping out from behind her tree.

"Waah!" Leon cried before falling backward onto the grass. "Jeez! Where the hell did you come from!"

"From behind this tree!"

"Yeah! I can see that!"

She giggled. "Should I text everyone else?"

"Y-Yeah, sure," he said, dusting himself off. "Send an invite to Penny, too."

"Oooh, your crush, huh?"

"S-She's not my crush!"

"Oh, I know. You like somebody else!"

His face was the color of his jacket now. "Lilly."

"Hmm?"

"Hush."

She giggled again. "Nope!"

—

All of Team LILY, Penny, Perseus, and Athena had accepted Lilly's invitation. Only Xanthus and Echo remained at the dorm, Xanthus to study and Echo to mill about their room. She ultimately settled in bed to draw, but got halfway through her sketch before throwing her notebook off to the side and resting her arm on her forehead.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Xanthus asked without looking up from his textbooks.

She turned her head to him without an answer.

"Are you still avoiding her? Even after Lilly already encouraged you?"

She continued to look at him. He continued to read over his notes and the textbooks.

"You know how she feels about you avoiding her. It's not just because you're partners either."

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She watched as he set his pencil down and walked to her.

"It's not good to bottle things up, you know."

She sighed before turning back to the ceiling.

"Especially when you've got feelings you need to let out."

She looked over at him. He was holding her sketchbook, looking at the portrait she drew.

"It really captures everything about her, that strength and confidence, the poise, the beauty, everything. I notice something odd, though. The smile you've given her is not like her usual smile. It's more...innocent, I'd say. Not innocent like Lilly innocent, but it's like you've taken away the weight on her shoulders as the Golden Girl of Vale."

He set the booklet back down on her bedside table before pulling out her desk chair and sitting on it, facing her.

"Do you wish to talk?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"One of my duties as class president is to talk with anyone who has issues, but more importantly, you're my teammate, and even more important than that, you're my friend. We've been through a lot together in these last four months, Echo, and you should already know by now that there's nothing you need to hide from us. I know you're not the kind of person to share everything, but I'm here to tell you that you have ears that will listen to you."

"It's just..." she began before trailing off.

"Does it have to do with that night? With Lilly? At the statue?"

"How the hell did you know about that?"

"I happened to be on my way back to the dorms from the student council meeting when I came upon you two and Ingrid. You seemed to have resolved everything, so I did not involve myself. But it appears something remains that has yet to be resolved."

She sighed.

He stood up and pushed her chair back into her desk. "If you feel you cannot share at this moment, then I won't push you. The last thing I want to do is pressure you into something you're not ready for."

She watched as he walked to his bed, turning off his desk light and lying down to get some sleep.

"I'm scared," Echo finally said.

Xanthus said nothing, but he turned his head in her direction to let her know he was listening.

"Of a lot of things. Of losing her, of me not being enough for a girl like her. But mostly, right now, I'm scared she's not into girls either. And that I have no chance with her at all."

"Why not just ask?"

"What if she's not into girls?"

"What if she is?"

She didn't answer.

"You'll drive yourself mad never knowing the answer to your question. Believe me, I've been there."

"You have?"

"Do you remember when Perseus was asking all of us if we had somebody we left back home?"

She nodded.

"Well, I wasn't being completely candid. While it's true that I was always too busy with school to make the time for a relationship, it is also true that, for the entire four years I spent at Sanctum, I withheld my feelings for a girl I grew up with. And just like that, I let her slip away."

Echo closed her eyes.

"The worst part," Xanthus continued, "is that I recently discovered from my younger sister that Scarlet had confessed to her, saying that she secretly harbored a crush toward me as well."

"...Shit," was all Echo could manage.

"Yes, so you understand why I don't wish for the same fate to befall you."

Despite how simple it sounded on the outside, it was far from simple. Her heart pounded every time she was near her and she could hardly think straight every time she gazed into those beautiful midnight blue eyes. She was the only girl who could reduce her to a blabbering mess with just a look. Even that thing she does where she tosses her golden ponytail over her shoulder made Echo melt into a puddle every time it happened.

"I wish you the best," Xanthus broke the silence. "Good night."

Yeah. The best was all she could hope for. But it wouldn't be tonight. It would be on the night they were all awaiting.

Winter Formal.


	17. Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII

 _The Most Perilous Battlefield_

"Oooh!" Lilly shrieked as the hairdresser finished with Ingrid. "Your hair looks so nice!"

"Is that a little blue I see?" Athena asked her.

"It's barely visible on your black hair," Lilly said, "but I think I see the blue tips!"

The trio turned to the doorway that led into the back rooms as a familiar face joined them.

"Oh, fancy seeing you guys here," Penny said to them.

"Penny!" Lilly said before running to embrace her, careful not to ruin her new hairdo. "Ohmygosh, we're all looking so pretty today!"

"Athena stopped her tomboy thing, too," Ingrid said.

"The fuck?" Athena said. "I ain't no tomboy."

"Dude, you can't even girl half the time."

"Look, just cuz I don't throw on makeup every goddamned day doesn't mean I can't girl."

All four turned to Echo as she rejoined them. Her dark brown hair, which used to fall to her lower back, was all gone, replaced by a sidecut. What remained was swept to the left, falling right down to her chin.

"All your hair!" Lilly said. "It's gone!"

"I like it," Athena said with a smile.

Ingrid and Lilly both gave looks to their friends. Echo's face was pink while Athena wore the usual confident grin.

"You think it's gonna happen tonight?" Lilly whispered to Ingrid.

"It better," she whispered back. "God knows it's taken way too long."

"Not as long as you!"

Ingrid faced her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Lilly replied with a giggle. "C'mon! Nails!"

—

"All right, this is it," Perseus said, straightening up his coat collar. He turned to Xanthus. "Lookin' good, pardner."

"Thank you," he said. "Be honest, though. The traditional Mistral formal dress isn't too gaudy?"

"Not at all, man. Actually, I was gonna say that looks really good compared to the fashion we have back in Vacuo. Hell, if you can call a fucking vest and t-shirt 'fashion.'"

He chuckled. "Actually, I don't think I would mind such a free lifestyle."

"Look, free is one thing. Chaotic is another."

"I think Yuan does more for our country's fashion, though."

"Nah, man, don't sell yourself short. You just went for a simpler style, that's all. He went all out with all that friggin' dragon embroidery and shit." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Who do you think, though?"

"Hmm?"

"Ingrid, I mean. Cuz dude, both Yuan and Leon have been, you know, giving her gifts and shit. And they're both better dressed than you and me. Frikkin' Team LILY trying to steal the spotlight from us."

Xanthus chuckled. "I mean, I don't want to favor either of them over the other."

"Which one, though?"

He shrugged. "One cannot ignore the fact that she and Leon grew up together. However, that may also play a factor in the other direction."

"You mean she might see him as a brother?"

"Hmm. Not quite. Because from the way she's been behaving around both, I believe she has feelings for them equally."

"Shit, that's gotta be rough."

"Indeed."

After laying on the finishing touches, they left their room, running into Leon and Yuan in the hallway.

"Whoa, dat timing," Leon said.

"Can you jinx actions, too, or is it just shit you say?" Perseus chuckled.

"Fuck it, you two owe us sodas."

"I'll take up that challenge," Xanthus said.

"Dammit, no!" Perseus said. "You're poor enough as it is! I can't let my partner _and_ president spend the last of his savings!"

"It's...just...soda..."

"That doesn't matter!"

"Okay, okay, if you insist."

Yuan chuckled. "Did you get your suit from the city?" he asked Xanthus.

He shook his head. "No one in Vale makes clothing styled after what we wear in Anima. Did you get yours shipped here as well?"

He nodded.

"Ah, from Nanjiang Silk Company?"

He nodded again.

"You coulda saved on shipping," Leon chuckled.

"Next time," Yuan said. "The Vytal Festival is coming up at the end of the school year."

"Ah, that reminds me," Xanthus said. "I don't want to burden any of you, but could you volunteer for some of the booths we're planning for the festival?"

"Xanthus," Perseus said flatly. "Don't be an idiot."

"Huh?"

"We're _competing_."

"Oh. I nearly forgot about that."

"How could you forget something _that_ important?" Leon said.

"I mean, he does juggle everything," Yuan said. "And still manages a 4.0. I can't even do that."

"Yeah, _nerd_ ," Perseus said to Xanthus, who chuckled.

"Well," Leon said, looking at his scroll, which had just vibrated. "The girls are all headed to the hall. We ready?"

"Wait, wait," Perseus said, reaching into an inner coat pocket. "Some liquid courage before we go into unknown territory."

"Oh, hell," Leon said, taking a swig from the flask Perseus had presented for the group. "Hoo! This is way better than Qrow's stash!"

"Hah! Funny you say that!"

"No. You didn't."

"I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations at this time." He turned to Xanthus. "You should get used to saying that since you're gonna become president of Vale someday."

"We're all underage," he said. "We should not be drinking alcohol." He turned to Yuan, who held out the flask after taking his own swig. "I am disappointed in you, Yuan Ren."

"Okay," Perseus said. "I'll hold him down! You guys, make him drink!"

Xanthus sighed before accepting the flask and taking a swig. The liquid was devoid of any flavor, consisting only of lava scorching every single inch of tissue it touched on the way down to his stomach.

"By the gods," he coughed.

The others laughed, including Yuan.

"Okay, now we're ready!" Perseus said, leading the way out.

There were other Beacon students leaving the dorms and heading to the main hall at the front of the school. Banners decorated the walkways and entries, welcoming everyone to Winter Formal. Most of the guys around wore suits and tuxedos while the girls wore every manner of dress available, from cute outfits to outright gorgeous dresses.

"Checkin' out the upperclassmen?" Leon said to Perseus.

"Upperclass _women_ , brah, don't fudge that up ever again," he replied. "And there's that girl again. She's so gloomy. It's like having a ghost here at Beacon."

They all looked over to Mizuki, who was following the rest of her team from far behind.

"I heard something about her," Leon said. "Apparently, she's got a kid."

"Wait, what?" Perseus said. "She's a little young, ain't she?"

"The kid's apparently pretty old, too, like, maybe eight or something."

"Holy shit. I couldn't even think about having a family right now. I guess it makes sense why she'd be so damn depressed all the time. We're just first-years and already I feel like crying every night before an exam." He rested an elbow on Xanthus's shoulder. "Like this fucker and his perfect-scoring ass. I-In a non-gay, completely bro way, of course."

Xanthus chuckled before looking to the distance. "I think I see them," he said. "Oh, never mind. That's Team ORNJ."

"Hey, Xanthus!" Octavia waved as they walked by.

"Good evening, Miss Winchester," he said with a bow.

"Geez, do you always have to be so formal? We're supposed to be friends!"

"Where are your dates?" Leon asked.

"Why, were you interested?" asked Reina, the team's second-in-command.

"Well. Maybe."

"Too bad," said Noa, the team's third. "We've already got dates."

"All of Team PDTR," Janna said with a sigh. "Honestly, though, couldn't we have gone with other guys besides _predators_? Ugh, I feel like I need to carry my sword around while we're in there."

"Hey, Paolo's team ain't that bad, okay?" Reina said. "Especially Demetri. He can be a little stiff, though."

"That's what Atlas'll do to you," Perseus sighed. "Well, we'll see you guys inside, then, huh?"

They all waved to each other before Leon and his boys perched themselves at the front entrance. Mostly everyone was entering from the rear, from the direction of the dorms, but the girls had gone off to Vale to get dressed. Lilly had sent Leon a text message saying that they were on their way, but it was getting quite late already.

"I'm hungry," Perseus muttered.

"Chillax, dude," Leon said. "I think this is worth the wait."

"I believe you, but I'm still hungry. Your grandpa Qrow's liquor's starting to kick in. I need some bread."

"I hope you left that flask in the dorm!" Xanthus said to him.

"I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations at this time."

He sighed.

"I'm not gonna get anyone drunk! Scout's honor!"

"That's not the point!"

"Oh, shit," Leon said. "Is that them?"

A limousine pulled up the driveway and all four found their jaws dropping as the girls piled out. Athena was the first one to disembark. She rarely wore heels or makeup and seeing her in that bright red, bareback, full-length dress made Xanthus, Perseus, and Yuan stare longer than they should have. She had gold and ruby waterfall earrings to top off her look, golden hair tied up with a red and gold band, a wavy lock of gold hanging down either side of her face.

"C'mon, guys," Leon said. "That's my sister you're staring at."

"Yeah," Perseus said. "And your sister's hot."

"Bro."

"Get used to calling me that. Cuz I think I'm gonna wife her."

"For shit's sake, man."

The other girls were no less beautiful than the gorgeous Athena. Echo's outfit wasn't anywhere near as glamorous as her partner's, but the dark purple dress looked amazing on her. The left-swept, chin-length sidecut hairstyle she now wore complimented the knee-length dress, which bared her shoulders and back just as Athena's dress did. She, too, wore heels for the first time ever. The look was finished with a set of silver and amethyst drop earrings.

"It's too bad she's not into guys," Perseus said. "I'd've asked her out a long time ago."

"Did I ever tell you that story?" Leon said.

"Story?" Xanthus asked.

"Yeah. I asked her out I think on our third day here. She said she was interested in my sister and not me."

Perseus burst out laughing. "That couldn't have been good for your ego."

"It felt like she shot me right in the heart with one of her arrows, man."

Ingrid was next to step out of the limo. She was in a black and indigo diagonal-cut dress which bared her right shoulder and her left leg. The middle of the dress was composed of sheer fabric in a diagonal cut that matched the rest, partially exposing her abdomen. Her hair was kept down as she always wore it, but there were noticeably more waves and curls than usual. As she turned around, Leon spotted a dark blue bow tying two braids together before letting them fall down as a single lock.

Perseus looked over at Yuan and Leon. They were both staring conspicuously. He smiled to himself before turning back to the girls. Next out was Penny, who was nothing short of jaw-dropping.

As the eldest of the girls, she had a full figure, though nowhere near as muscular as Athena. Penny had the physique of a seasoned Huntress and as such, it was impossible to ignore her, especially with that shimmering dark green dress, which was topped off with a golden sash that she wore around her back, draping over her forearms. She wore gold earrings with emerald studs along with a gold necklace topped with a green black opal, which showed hints of dark red at certain angles.

"That, my friends, is beauty incarnate," Perseus said.

"I agree," Leon said.

"Me, too," Xanthus said.

They all turned to their class president.

"I, uh, I mean—"

"Yeah, buddy!" Leon said, throwing an arm around him. "I won't tell her! Bro code!"

"And there's the princess," Perseus said as they turned to watch Lilly disembark the vehicle.

Lilly was in a pure white dress with blue trim, whose sleeves were cut just enough to bare her shoulders. The sleeves ended right at her elbows, meeting her arm-length white cotton gloves. The elegant, intricately designed dress fell almost to her ankles, just barely exposing her shimmering white and silver heels. Along the waist sat a sheer pale blue sash, pinned to the left with what appeared to be a snowflake, the emblem of the Schnee Family. The look was finished with silver and sapphire waterfall earrings and a silver necklace with a blue black opal pendant. She had her snow-white hair tied back with a large, pale blue bow, leaving two straight locks hanging down either side of her face.

Leon was the first to realize that his mouth was open and he quickly went to work to push the rest of his comrades' jaws shut.

"Good lookin' out," Perseus said.

"My goodness, they are beautiful," Yuan said.

"That's the first thing you've said since they got here," Leon said. "And yes, I agree with you."

"Sorry!" Lilly said, hurrying to the guys. "Did you wait long?"

"Nope, not at all," Leon said, shaking his head.

"I'm glad! I thought you guys were sitting here in the cold!"

"Lilly!" Ingrid said. "You forgot your shawl!"

"Oh, crap!" she said, running back to accept the pale blue sheer fabric. "Thanks, best friend!"

Ingrid chuckled before following at the rear of the group. The boys were dressed just as she expected, but each one had different personalities to them. Perseus was in a full suit, complete with white shirt, bronze tie, and a shimmering gold vest topped with a black wool coat that stretched to his knees.

Leon's getup was similar, though with his distinct black and dark red theme instead. He also didn't wear a tie, preferring to leave his black shirt's top button undone. His red-tipped black hair matched his coat's black and red outline along with the black and red belt buckle. He was likely the only guy at the dance tonight who could even pull off such a casual-formal look.

The two imports from Mistral were dressed in traditional garb from their homeland. Xanthus's silk outfit was the simpler of the two, consisting of a black top with yellow cords binding it together in the front and yellow cuffs. Even his glasses were different today, gold instead of the black plastic ones he normally wore. His dark brown hair wasn't styled any differently, but from how glossy it looked, he must have used hairspray or something.

Yuan, on the other hand, took "traditional" to the limit. He was dressed in very formal clothing from Mistral, the top a shimmering green silk with golden dragon embroidery on the chest and arms. Even the black pants were made of silk and embroidered gold with a similar dragon design. He wore his hair in a top knot.

"Aren't all of you looking handsome?" Lilly said, giving hugs to each of the boys. "Oh! You didn't forget your pins!"

"'Course not," Leon said, playing with the silver lily pin she had given them so long ago.

"Heh, it's like we're in uniform or something," Perseus said, eyeing everyone's lily pins.

"Of course!" Lilly said. "You're all my dates, after all!"

"Okeedokee, pictures before we head in!" Penny said, taking photos with her scroll as they gathered in front of the doors.

"Boys' turn!" Lilly said, taking their photo.

"And now the ladies," Perseus said, offering to take their pictures.

"Hey, don't forget individual teams, too!" Penny said.

"And partners!" Lilly said. "Oh, and you gotta get in on the last shot, Penny!"

"You kept that selfie stick?" Ingrid said as her partner affixed her scroll to the far end of the rod.

"I did pay for it, you know," Lilly said.

"I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a rental."

"I wonder what the late fees are like," Leon chuckled.

"Okay, it's getting cold," Athena said, shivering. "Let's get inside already."

Xanthus and Yuan held the front doors open as Lilly walked in with the rest of their party. They had arrived just in time. The headmaster was about to address the crowd.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Oscar said. "First, I'd like to congratulate all of you on completing yet another semester at Beacon Academy. For a portion of you, however, this marks your victory over your very first courses at a Huntsman Academy. Very few in the world can make that claim and you are among them. Now, I'm not going to hold you any longer with boring speeches. Have yourselves a great evening!"

Cheers went around as the DJ started the first lineup, which consisted of soft electronic dance music.

"Hey," Lilly said quietly to Xanthus. "The band's still gonna perform, right?"

He nodded, pushing up his glasses. "You wanted them to show up at the second half of the night, remember?"

"Oh, right! I forgot about that!"

He chuckled. "Well, shall I have this first dance?"

"I'd be delighted, Mr. President!" she said, curtseying as he bowed.

"I'm gonna go get some punch," Leon said. "Throat's all parched and shit."

"You nervous about something, little brother?" Athena said with a grin.

"Fuck you."

She laughed before pairing off with Perseus on the dance floor. Echo was already at the punch bowl when Leon arrived.

"Yo," he said, scooping himself a cup. "Nice dress."

"I already told you," Echo began.

"Yeah, yeah, you're interested in my sister. Tell me, then. Why are you standing here all by yourself instead of asking her to dance?"

She reddened.

"If it's because you don't know how, I can teach you. Not that there's anything to know. I mean, look at everybody."

That wasn't it. Echo couldn't get out of the back of her mind the question as to whether or not Athena was interested in girls. Xanthus was absolutely right that she would never know the answer unless she asked, but asking was part of the problem. What if she wasn't into girls? But even more nerve-wracking was if she actually was into girls. Because then Echo would have to follow through and that's something she could never muster up the courage for, having run away from everyone her entire life.

Leon watched as his companion slunk away. If that wall weren't there, she'd have already fled a long time ago.

"God, you remind me of Ingrid," he sighed.

"Oh, do I?" Echo said, her apprehension suddenly gone.

"Th-The hell is that supposed to mean?"

She grinned at him.

"Y-Yo, what's with that grin?"

"Oh, muffin."

"Psh! What _ever_!"

Meanwhile, Yuan and Ingrid stood at the edge of the crowd. Neither were really the type to go and hit the dance floor despite having been just as hyped up for this night as everyone else in their circle of friends. Ingrid snuck a peek over at her companion, who was watching the crowd, noticeably avoiding her eyes, a good thing since she avoided his gaze as well.

It was when she turned back to the crowd that Yuan also snuck his own peek in her direction, admiring how her long, jet black hair fell down her shoulders and back in waves. The dark blue bow in her hair was the perfect complement to her black and indigo dress, which bared her right shoulder and left leg with its diagonal cut pattern. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a grunt too quiet to hear over the music. He cleared his throat gently before trying and failing once more. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to meditate. He managed to muster up the courage to finally say something when Lilly startled him.

"Hey!" she said, making him flinch.

Had Ingrid noticed his obvious nervousness? No, it seemed she hadn't been paying attention at all. Part of him hoped that was the case, but Ingrid? Nothing got past her.

"What the heck are you doing over here?" Lilly asked the duo, who were oblivious to one another's redness.

"J-Just trying to, uh, rest!" Ingrid said.

Lilly giggled. "We just got here! What are you resting for?"

"I don't usually spend so much time getting my hair and nails done, you know."

"Neither do I! C'mon!"

Yuan and Ingrid bumped into each other softly as Lilly pulled them by their hands to the dance floor. They both turned to each other, faces as red as tomatoes.

"E-Excuse me," Yuan stammered.

"N-No, it was my fault," Ingrid said.

Lilly couldn't hold in the giggle as she dragged them to the middle of the throng. They passed by Team ORNJ, who were accompanied by Team PDTR.

"Octavia!" Lilly greeted as she hugged her. "So, Paolo actually asked you to the dance, huh?"

"Everybody saw it coming," Janna said, also giving Lilly a hug.

"Hey, thanks for helping organize this, Lilly," Octavia said.

"It was my pleasure!" Lilly said. "Besides, Gina was looking super overwhelmed even with Xanthus's help."

"Yeah, it's hard for third-years to handle so many things at the same time."

They looked over to Gina Carrasco, the goat Faunus leader of Team GOTE. The rest of her teammates were all men who wore goatees in honor of their team name and their leader. Xanthus might have been the representative of the first-year students, but Gina was overall president of the student council.

Lilly looked past her toward the darkest corner of the hall. Mizuki was sitting by herself. Lilly hadn't noticed her there before, but she surmised that she had been there the entire night. She hurried to her, taking a seat on a chair next to her.

"Mizuki, right?" Lilly said with the brightest smile she could muster.

The girl looked up from her scroll and faced her. "Aren't you...Lilly Schnee?"

"Mm-hmm! Why are you all by your lonesome over here?"

She shrugged, turning back to her scroll to continue reading a digital textbook.

"Don't really care for the vibe in here?"

Mizuki didn't answer. Lilly sensed an incredibly deep pain from this girl. It was evident in how small she was, even though she wasn't physically tiny. Her shoulders were as far forward as they could be, hair covering most of her face. If Lilly didn't know any better, she'd say this girl was a ghost, a scarce reminder of what she might have been.

Lilly wanted to strike up a conversation with her, but what in the world would they even start talking about? First of all, she knew nothing about her, even though this wasn't the first time they'd met. That party at the beginning of the school year was when they were formally introduced, but other than that, they only ever brushed past each other in the library halls. That's where Mizuki spent most of her time.

"Do you mind if I sit here with you for a while?" Lilly asked her.

She shook her head.

"Okay. Oh, you know, if you don't have a dance partner, I can pair up with you!"

Mizuki slowly turned to Lilly. This first-year student could not possibly know the pain that resided deep within her heart. That's why she wore such a bright smile on her face. But Mizuki could not deny that this smile was so brilliant that it started to pierce deep into her soul. Even still, there was nothing anyone could do to cure her of her ache. And yet, as Lilly sat beside her like this, it was as though their very souls were touching, Lilly actively healing Mizuki without even a word.

Meanwhile, Ingrid and Yuan continued to awkwardly stand around as the others mingled with Team ORNJ and PDTR along with other students from their class and the other classes. Their eyes managed to meet along the way and they quickly turned away from each other, reddening once more. Rather, the redness had never left them.

"Look at those two," Echo said, leaning over the balcony railing. She and Leon had since migrated from the ground floor to the upper level.

"You're one to talk," Leon said, drinking from his cup. "Seriously, why aren't you asking my sister to dance?"

"Why aren't you asking your childhood sweetheart to?"

He stiffened, face instantly the color of his jacket. "I'm gonna push you over."

"Just try it, tough guy."

"Psh. You're just lucky I don't pick on little girls."

After spending some time with the loneliest girl in the hall, Lilly returned to the dance floor to continue mingling. She had urged Mizuki to join her, but she wouldn't budge. Promising to be back to keep her company, the princess in white left her side temporarily.

"Miss Schnee," Demetri said as he approached Lilly. She turned to him and gave him a big smile. "Might I share a dance with you?"

"Sure!" she accepted before pairing off with him.

"The dress is lovely, by the way."

"I was gonna say! Your suit is real regal. Atlas uniform?"

"I know it's not exactly good form to show up in Atlas formal clothing at a Beacon dance, but part of me wants to represent where I come from."

"There's no shame in being you, Demetri. Look at Xanthus and Yuan. They're both dressed in super traditional Mistral clothing!"

She was smiling at him. Her light brownish, hazel eyes seemed to do the same. Although they were related, she and Lilly were complete opposites.

"Thinking about somebody?" Lilly asked, snapping him out of his daydream.

"Just someone I left back home," he said.

"Oh! A girlfriend?"

"N-No, not exactly. She was—is—a very close friend. Both of my family and personally."

"Do you still keep in touch?"

"She's far too busy. I'd rather not bother her."

"That won't do! Demetri Holland, I won't let you leave this dance tonight unless you promise to get in touch with her later, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Promise!"

"Okay," he chuckled. "I promise."

Xanthus spotted Yuan and Ingrid slowly edging their way back to the wall, but he wasn't going to allow them to escape, not after all the preparation he and Lilly and Gina and Octavia had gone through to make this dance happen. He was at Ingrid's side in a flash.

"Excuse me, Miss Belladonna," he said.

"Huh?" Ingrid said.

"Would you grant me the honor of a dance?"

She chuckled. "Since when the hell did you get all formal?"

"Hasn't he always been like that?" Yuan said.

Xanthus pushed up his glasses as he reached out with the other hand. Ingrid glanced over at Yuan before accepting. Xanthus also gave their friend a glance before beginning a dance with Ingrid. Yuan let out a sigh before heading over to the punch bowl. He spotted Leon and Echo leaning over the rail up above, chatting and watching the dance. Athena and Perseus were still in the midst of the throng, dancing together and mingling with fourth-year and third-year students at the same time.

"Is there a reason you're not out there having fun with your friends?"

Yuan turned to his right as he drank from his cup. Penny was standing with her fists on her hips, dark green dress shimmering in the light.

"You're gonna end up with a sugar rush if all you're gonna do is drink punch all night, you know. That and all the bathroom breaks you're gonna have to take, although it's not a problem with you guys."

He chuckled.

"C'mon!" she said, taking his punch and setting it down on the table before holding him by the hand. "Dance with me!"

"B-But, I don't kn—"

"That's bull! God, I swear, you are _just_ like your dad."

"My dad?"

"I-I mean, you're probably like him, aren't you?"

"I guess so."

"Just relax! C'mon, green and green together!"

Leon chuckled as he watched Penny drag Yuan to the dance floor, where he had absolutely no idea what to do. She taught him everything step by step, showing him how to lead and where to place his hands and what to do with his feet.

"So," Echo said, bumping Leon's shoulder. "Your childhood sweetheart is gonna get stolen away if you don't hurry up and make a damn move."

"Would you quit calling her that?" he yelled in her face. Her only response was a sly grin. He let out a heavy sigh. "It's not like...it's not like that."

"How is it like, then?"

He leaned forward against the railing once more. "I don't know."

"See, here's how I see it. It's perfectly normal for me, Yuan, and Ingrid not to mingle with everybody down there. Cuz I'm me, Ingrid's Ingrid, and Yuan's Yuan. You, on the other hand, never do this kind of shit. That tells me today's different from every other day."

He felt like his head was going to explode. She was right, of course. This wasn't like any other day. It was for a much different reason, however. Echo and everybody else assumed his feelings were only for Ingrid. But as his eyes explored the crowd of people down there, Ingrid wasn't the only one he persistently focused on. The princess in white, whose smile alone brightened up the world, also stole his heart.

"How 'bout this," Leon said, facing Echo. "I go ask her, and you go ask her."

She turned red.

"We ask at the same time."

"Do you realize what you are demanding of me?" she all but screamed.

"How the hell do you think _I_ feel?" he said, his voice of a similar volume.

Echo's hands shook at the thought of asking Athena to dance. She looked over to her. It wasn't just Perseus she was dancing with now. Just about everyone down there had a dance with her. Partner swapping was incredibly common tonight it seemed.

"Dammit, okay," Leon said. "Do you know how to dance?"

Echo shook her head violently.

"I thought as much." He took her by the hands and she retracted them rapidly. "I'm trying to help you, dammit!"

She looked him in the eye. None of the lechery was there. Slowly, she reached back out to him.

"Okay," he sighed. "Do you wanna lead or would you rather she lead?"

Of course she wanted Athena to lead. She was the stronger one after all.

"Screw it, I'll teach you how to do both."

"H-Huh?"

"Just follow my instructions."

"O-Okay."

At the other end of the upper level, Oscar and Glynda kept close watch over their students. Not everyone attended the dance tonight, but a sizeable portion of the student body was present. They estimated that a little over half of the campus was in attendance.

"The perimeter has just gotten back to me with their report," Glynda said, putting away her scroll. "Campus is clear tonight."

"No repeat of eighteen years ago, hmm?" Oscar asked.

"Either that, or our enemies have gotten much better."

"Which they have. The old ways won't work anymore. After all, it is not just the Grimm which are a threat now."

"Whew!" Penny said as she joined the two instructors. "Where the heck is Qrow? I thought he'd be with you two up here."

"Escorting the band it seems," Glynda said.

"Ah, right, cuz of, yeah, right. Anyway, Oscar, wanna dance?"

He turned to her. She was beaming. That spirit was still in there. Even though she had been through so much in the last twenty years of her life, she was still capable of shining so brightly. What he did not know was that the smile on Penny's face was nothing more than a mask, one she wore to hide what was constantly beneath the surface. After all these years, her Semblance was still uncontrollable, though it wasn't so bad right now since everyone around her was in a good mood.

"I'd be delighted to accompany you, Penny," Oscar said.

"I'll bring him back!" Penny said to Glynda as they descended the stairs. "Pinky promise!"

"I think that kind of promise requires you to actually use your pinky," Glynda said.

Penny giggled as she wiggled her pinky finger in the air. "Hey, wait! Glynda, come join us!"

"What for?"

"I think it's gonna take all three of us to help him build up his courage!"

"'Him'?"

"Mm-hmm! C'mon!"

Rolling her eyes, Glynda acquiesced and descended the stairs with them.

"Okay, you ready?" Leon asked Echo.

"No," Echo said. "I am so not fucking ready."

"All the better!" Without warning, he picked her up and they vanished into a cloud of rose petals, instantly appearing in the middle of the dance floor.

"Holy shit!" Echo yelled, panting as she stooped over. "Could you fucking warn me next time before you do something like that?"

Clapping went around the room as the rose petals settled to the ground. Leon acknowledged and began bowing in all directions.

"Oh, so you grew your courage back, huh?" Echo said to him, hands on her hips.

"Well," he began, "after all, my color is red, and red is the color of—"

"Love, yes, I know."

"I was actually gonna say courage, but yeah, that's right, too!"

"The hell are you doing, Leon?" Athena said, walking up to them.

"Oh, hey, sis!" he said, throwing an arm around her. "I was just delivering someone to you!"

"Delivering?" She turned to Echo, who was shyly playing with her hands behind her back, avoiding her gaze. She couldn't help but chuckle. "You bein' a wingman or somethin'?"

"Somethin' like that," Leon said.

"Well. Good thing you're down here, cuz you know somebody's waiting for you, too."

He glanced over in another direction, where Ingrid and Lilly mingled with Team ORNJ and Team SQRL, another third-year quartet. He loosened up his shoulders and legs before strolling over.

"Hang on," Athena said, standing next to Echo. "We have to watch this."

"Think you're ready?" Penny said to Yuan, who broke away from Glynda.

"I think so," he said, gulping. "Thank you, Miss Goodwitch," he said with a bow.

"My pleasure, Mr. Ren. You know, you certainly remind me of your father. You got more of him than your mother, I think."

"Both were excellent students," Oscar said. "But more importantly, both are exemplary human beings."

He smiled.

"Now, c'mon!" Penny said, giving him a light smack on the shoulder. "Go for it!"

He swallowed before heading over to where Ingrid and Lilly were mingling with other students on the dance floor.

"How about it, Glynda?" Oscar said, standing before her with a hand presented. "Would you care for a dance?"

Glynda couldn't help the smile on her face. She missed the old Ozpin, the one she knew from so long ago. But it was true that this man was the same, though not entirely. Both Ozpin and Oscar had long since fused into a single mind, a single soul. The resultant being was an equal mix of the two, with Ozpin's logic and dedication and Oscar's innocence and compassion.

"I'd love to join you, Professor Ozpin," she said.

"An ancient name for an ancient man," he said.

"I don't know. You look good for a man pushing a thousand."

"More than that, I think."

Yuan felt as though he had taken a million steps toward Ingrid, even though she wasn't actually that far away. It just seemed that with every step he took, the weight on his shoulders became heavier and heavier. He was maybe ten feet from her when his view of his target was blocked by Leon, who was holding out a blue rose for her.

"Hey, pretty kitty!" Leon said to Ingrid.

"Ohmygosh!" Lilly said before disappearing behind Octavia. "He even got her a rose!"

"L-Leon!" Ingrid said.

"Would you care to dance with me?" he asked.

She looked to her right, where Lilly should have been standing, but her partner was gone. "Ugh, you traitor!" she said aloud.

"Huh?"

She turned back to him. "N-Nothing! S-Sure, I'll dance with you."

"Okay," Leon chuckled before tucking the blue rose in her hair behind her ear.

Penny felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She quickly turned to where the sensation was originating and spotted Yuan standing in the midst of the crowd, unmoving, staring as Leon tucked a blue rose in Ingrid's hair and danced with her. She put her hands to her mouth, feeling the shock from Yuan. Fortunately, he took after his father and it wasn't as intense as it could have been, but the emotions were still real and very raw.

"No, no, no!" she said into her hands. "Stupid Leon!" She was going to stomp in their direction when a hand took hers. She turned to her right. Perseus shook his head at her.

"I don't think interfering is a good idea," he said.

She sighed heavily. "You're right. It's just...ugh, I hate love triangles."

"Yeah, I agree. So, you got a dance partner right now?"

"Not at the moment."

"Me neither. Mine got stolen by a girl."

She chuckled, spotting Echo and Athena dancing in the crowd. "Shall we?"

"Sure. If it'd help take your mind off of that just now. I know I could use a distraction."


	18. Chapter XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII

 _Childhood Sweet_

The first hour of the night came and went and none of Lilly's group had permanently paired off with anyone. Leon had since gone off to partner up with other girls, including his own sister, but not once had he built up the courage to ask the one girl he truly wanted to dance with. She was in the middle of the crowd, somehow having managed to convince that fourth-year student, Mizuki, to join her on the dance floor, even if only once. He smiled to himself. Lilly _would_ be the one break the ice with such a gloomy girl like Mizuki.

"Why don't you just ask her, you idiot?" Athena yelled right into his ear.

"Don't be a jerk!" he yelled back.

"Don't be a bitch!"

"What she said," Echo said.

"Who asked you?" Leon yelled at her as well.

"I don't get it. Why are you so nervous about asking Ingrid and Lilly to dance with you?"

"Yeah," Athena said. "You don't have trouble flirting with _anyone_. Hell, it's only recently that you started getting nervous about Ingrid. The hell's gotten into you?"

"Would you two just get off my case?" he yelled at them both.

Athena and Echo sighed heavily.

"C'mon, Echo," Athena said. "My brother's a lost cause."

"I agree with you," Echo said, following Athena off the dance floor to get some water.

Leon threw his head back as he slammed his palm onto his forehead. Meanwhile, Yuan had spent all night away from his group, mingling with some third-year students instead, particularly Team SQRL, currently the best third-year team at Beacon. They were expected to have a slot at the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament and Yuan was curious as to their team's tactics and abilities.

"Mostly it's that we're a strong team," said Samantha, the team's leader. "Quentin and I work perfectly together while Rhonda and Llewellyn are the other perfect duo. It's easy to run formations and stuff when we know our teammates inside and out. It's also easy for us to pair up with anyone on our team. That's how tightly knit we are."

"You guys don't seem that bad yourselves," Quentin said. "We all heard about what you guys went through in Forever Fall. We've seen some of your training sessions with Penny, too."

"We still don't have that fluidity that you four have, though," Yuan said.

Rhonda looked over at Yuan's other teammates. "I think I know the problem."

"What's that?" Quentin asked.

"Oh, yeah," Samantha said. "I know what you're talking about."

"It's pretty obvious," Llewellyn said.

"What's obvious?" Quentin said. "Yuan, do _you_ get it?"

He shrugged.

"See? Even the guy you're trying to coach doesn't get it. What's the problem?"

"It's something you guys have to figure out yourselves," Samantha said. "It's not something we can just point out to you. Actually, it'll probably make things worse to point it out."

"Well, I think we've spent enough time on our asses," Llewellyn said. "Should we get back to the dance floor?"

"Sure," Rhonda said, joining him.

"Wait, I still don't get it!" Quentin said. "Sam, what's with their team? Did we have that problem, too?"

She shook her head before taking him by the hand and leading him to the crowd.

"Hey, Yuan! Just so you feel better, I still don't get it either!"

Yuan chuckled before heading to the punch bowl to get more to drink, but it was empty.

"Rats."

He looked to his left.

"Why do we keep running into each other at the punch bowl?" Penny said with a chuckle.

"Uh-oh," Gina said before typing away at her scroll. "Don't worry, guys! We'll have some more out in a jiff!"

"Thanks, Madam School President!" Penny said.

"Of course!"

"Anyway," she said, turning back to Yuan. "Whatcha doin' here all by your lonesome?"

"I'm always alone," he said.

"Yeah, right, but your friends are here. You should be having fun with them."

"I am having fun."

"You know what I'm talking about, Yuan."

He didn't answer, picking up a bottle of water instead.

"Look," she sighed. "I probably shouldn't be saying this out loud to you, but I did see what happened earlier. I would tell you that you shouldn't get discouraged, but who the hell am I to tell you what to do? Anyway, just...don't let it get you down, okay?"

"Thanks, Penny," he said. "I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but to be honest, I don't know why I got all worked up for that anyway. It's not like me to get social at all."

He wasn't exactly wrong, but Penny could still feel that slight sense of disappointment coming from him. But overpowering that negative emotion was another one: tranquility.

"You really are like your father," she said with a smile.

"You keep saying that like you know him or something."

"Let's just say we go way back."

"First time I've heard it."

"Not surprising."

"Hey!" Lilly's voice sounded loudly enough to startle them both.

Penny looked over at Yuan. He had been in the midst of drinking from his water bottle when Lilly had come upon them and now his entire face and collar were soaked. She fought to hold in her laugh, but it burst out.

"I'm sorry!" Lilly said. "I didn't mean to scare you like that!"

"I don't mean to laugh at you!" Penny said. "But that was too funny!"

"All my water is gone," Yuan said, looking at his empty bottle.

"C'mon!" Lilly said, grabbing both of them by the hand. "Let's go dance together! And no excuses, Yuan, I saw Penny teaching you earlier!"

He acquiesced, following them both to the dance floor. He caught a glimpse of Ingrid at the upper levels, walking briskly and disappearing behind a small crowd of people. He looked around to see Leon mingling with other students, mostly upperclassmen.

"So," Lilly said as she and Penny danced with him. "You haven't danced with Ingrid yet."

"Lilly!" Penny said.

"Somebody had to bring it up. Roundabout wasn't working anymore."

"I don't really dance," Yuan said.

"But you're dancing with us right now!"

"Because you wanted to dance with me, so I'm dancing with you."

She chuckled. "Do you _want_ to dance with her, though?"

He didn't answer.

"Cuz I think she wants to dance with you!"

"I don't know."

"C'mon, Yuan!"

"Hey, don't pressure him!" Penny said.

"Oh, I'm team captain! I will order you to if I have to!"

Yuan sighed.

"Hey, uh, I was just kidding, you know!"

"I appreciate what you're doing," he said. "What you're all doing. It's just...this has never been my scene. My place is in the library, on the training grounds, on the battlefield, in the classroom. Never this."

"I can kinda see that." She shrugged. "Whatever! Let's just enjoy the night, then!"

In the meantime, Leon stole glance after glance at Lilly, who was dancing with Penny and the extremely stiff Yuan. He may as well have been doing the robot. Leon mustered up the courage to approach his true target of the night when Perseus beat him to the punch. He watched as the two bowed and curtseyed to each other before pairing off. He let out a heavy sigh, leaving the dance floor and heading upstairs.

He leaned over the railing for a bit, letting his eyes wander all over the crowd. The attendance had jumped in the last quarter hour, more than they had been planning for. Fortunately, Xanthus and Gina were on top of the whole organization process and they had backup plans for backup plans.

He turned to the left, heading for an open door, which let in the cold winter air. Today was the ninth of January. In just a few hours, it would be her birthday, the eldest of their whole group. She would be the first to turn eighteen, the first to be a legal adult. It was strange to think about, given that she was the most innocent out of probably everyone in this entire building.

He stepped onto the outer balcony to get some fresh air when he spotted a familiar cat Faunus in a diagonal-cut black and indigo dress seated alone on a stone bench. The wind caught her hair, tossing it to the side and exposing her neck.

"What're you doing out here?" he asked her.

"Funny," Ingrid said, looking at him over her shoulder. "I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"Believe it or not, I had to get away from the crowd."

"No way. You?"

He nodded before taking a seat next to her. The silence went unbroken for a long while. The moon was showing its whole side tonight, shining down on them brightly.

"So, you're not with Lilly," Ingrid said.

"I dunno if she's interested in me," he said. "And besides, that Perseus asshole is quick with words."

She withheld from contradicting his claim about her disinterest in him.

"What about you? I thought you and Yuan were all close and shit lately. Why aren't you with him?"

She shrugged. Leon chuckled and she glared at him with a quiet growl. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just, whenever you get all sad, your cat ears do that thing where they get all flat. I've always found that cute and sad at the same time."

"Cute?" she all but yelled.

He reached up to touch one of her ears when she smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch!"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled.

Another wave of silence came over them. Most of the time was spent with both looking in opposite directions, but each one would intermittently steal glances at the other, hoping not to get caught. Leon could not help but admire Ingrid's womanly beauty. Even though they had grown up together, it was impossible not to notice. As always, she left her long, black hair down, but tonight she had an indigo-colored bow tying up two tiny braids at neck level, separating the resulting lock from the rest of her hair. She definitely rocked this dress. It was simple in overall design, but he couldn't ignore how it bared her right shoulder to him.

Ingrid also admired her childhood friend. He wasn't the same boy she had met all those years ago. He was a man now, complete with confidence and a handsome grin to boot. And this pensive side tonight was one he rarely showed anyone. She had seen this maybe once or twice, but as close as they both were, it was mostly hidden away. Behind that irksome attitude he wore daily was something else, something only he understood.

They both turned to each other, simultaneously beginning a sentence before stopping.

"You first," Leon said.

"No, you go ahead," Ingrid replied quickly.

"I'm serious, Ingrid."

She gulped. That really was his serious voice. And face. He wasn't wearing his distinct grin right now.

"You always clam up like that and I hate it when you do," he said. "C'mon. You know you can tell me stuff."

She sighed heavily. "It's stupid."

"No, it's not. Talk to me."

She looked at him, her yellow-amber eyes locking with his lavenders. She wondered if he showed this side to anyone else. She wondered if Lilly ever had the privilege of getting to know him this closely.

"It's just," she began before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "We've known each other forever."

He nodded.

"And...well, I was just wondering."

"Why it was never us?"

Her face rapidly warmed up. "Y-Yeah."

"Well, you hate me, remember?"

"I don't hate you!"

He chuckled. "You say it often enough."

"I mean, you can be really, _really_ annoying sometimes! And, jeez, I mean, you flirt with everything that moves!"

"Except Yuan."

"That's exactly my point—wait, why are you bringing him up?"

He shrugged, shaking his head at the same time. "I dunno. Really, though. Why _aren't_ we childhood sweethearts?"

Putting it that way made her heart skip a beat. Maybe two. Or three. For all she knew, her heart stopped altogether with just the thought of them being childhood sweethearts. Thinking about that term again made her stop breathing.

"Well," Leon said, unable to control his own redness. "Wanna give it a shot?"

"You put it so casually," Ingrid sighed.

He chuckled. "Actually, I'm nervous as fuck. Here."

Her hair stood on end as he put his hand on top of hers. She looked down and then back up at him. "Your hand's shaking."

He nodded. "Like I said. Nervous."

"I guess we could try."

He scooted toward her until they were touching. Both tentatively closed the distance between them, each one red as a tomato as their lips met. All of the magic that they were anticipating did not happen. Ingrid wanted to hide the disgust in her face, but failed upon noticing the same look on Leon.

"Okay," Leon said, "that was not what I was expecting."

"Yeah," Ingrid said. "That was like..."

"Kissing my sister."

"Brother for me."

There was a moment or two of absolute silence.

"Well," Leon sighed. "That settles that. I mean, as much as it breaks my heart to friend-zone a girl—"

She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder and they both shared a chuckle.

"I'm actually kinda relieved," Ingrid said.

"Me, too, sorta," Leon said, standing up and leaning against the banister facing her. "I mean, honestly, with how everyone kept teasing me with how I'm in love with you and shit, I was starting to believe it."

"But I think it's a different kind of love."

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong. I'd friggin' die for you. But I'd die for Athena, too. And for Yuan, and for Lilly, and for everybody else on Team APEX."

"Same."

Both let out a heavy sigh together.

"So, what is it with you and Yuan?" Leon asked her.

"Honestly?" she said. "Mostly this. I was...confused, I guess."

"You, too, huh?"

"Wait, you were confused about it, too?"

"That and that asshole Perseus."

"You know what, Leon, if you really like her, why don't you butt in and steal her away from that guy?"

"Because I'm not like that. I've never been like that."

This was true. She knew him better than anyone, maybe even better than his own twin. Leon had always been a flirt, but he was far from being an overly masculine alpha-male type. Perhaps he was even too polite for his own good.

"How 'bout this," she said, standing up. "I'll steal her away from Perseus. You wait until the song changes and then steal her from me."

"You're gonna be my wingman?"

"Hell yeah, I'll be your wingman."

He grinned. "Okay, then," he said, presenting his arm, which she accepted. "Let's go."

—

Leon watched as Ingrid successfully pried Lilly away from Perseus. He caught himself grinning before heading to the punch bowl, where Yuan was standing, watching the crowd.

"Sup," Leon said before bumping fists with his partner.

"Hey," Yuan replied.

"So, what're you doing here alone?"

He shrugged.

"You know she's waiting on you, right?"

Yuan turned to him.

"I ain't kiddin'. We just had a little talk outside. She's been hoping you'd be the one to make the move."

"But I thought..."

"Thought what?"

"Nothing. It's just that you two have known each other for so long and I incorrectly assumed that, well..."

"Yeah. Incorrectly is correct. Go, dude. Or, if you don't wanna butt in, I'll go steal Lilly away from her and you mosey on over and give Ingrid your best smile and be like 'hey, babe, let's dance?'"

"I somehow doubt that would work."

Leon laughed out loud. "Well, don't follow my lead word for friggin' word. Use your own creativity, man!" He threw a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Okay, song's changin'. Now's our chance!"

Yuan watched as Leon strode over to Lilly and Ingrid, the very essence of "suave" seeping from every pore. Lilly curtseyed before accepting Leon as her dance partner and Ingrid mingled with Team ORNJ. Yuan put his punch down on the table before mustering up the courage to walk up to her.

"Hey, Ingrid," he said over the music.

"Oh, Yuan," she said.

"Would you like to share a dance?"

She smiled before tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "I'd love to."

He returned her smile before moving in step with her. In the meantime, both Lilly and Leon stole glances at their teammates. Yuan had been a stiff dancer all night, but it seemed that with Ingrid as his partner, all of the steps came much more naturally.

"Oooh!" Lilly squealed.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Leon asked her.

"Yes! Oh, but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Aren't you sad you don't get to dance with the girl you like?"

"What are you talking about? I'm already dancing with the girl I like."

Lilly's face instantly went hot and she clammed up.

"Hey, you got all stiff all of a sudden. Is something wrong?"

"N-No, I'm okay. I just thought of the tournament, that's all."

"We got that. We'll make the cut _and_ we'll kick ass on behalf of Beacon."

"We'll be up against the best teams the other academies have got, though."

"Yeah, but they'll be up against the best Beacon's got, too."

She dodged a bullet, but still, just being this close to him after what he had just said made her incredibly warm all over.

"Oh, I think the band is here!" she yelled before running off. "I'll be right back, Leon!"

He smiled to himself. Little did she know that he had a surprise of his own as well. He headed to the back of the stage, where the band was getting ready to play.

"Where'd those two run off to?" Athena said as she danced with Xanthus alongside Echo and Perseus.

"Ah, the band should be ready to come onstage soon," Xanthus said.

"It's only been a little over an hour, though."

"Yes, but this is supposed to be the main event. That's how Lilly wanted it organized, anyway."

—

 _"Gear check!"_

 _"Drums are ready."_

 _"Your guitars are out there, too."_

 _"And the keyboard."_

 _"Amps are up and running."_

 _"Everything's tuned and set."_

"Okay, is everybody ready?" Lilly asked the band, who nodded in affirmation. "Awesome!"

"Okay, kiddo," Qrow said to the youngest member of the band. "Just do you, okay?"

"You know I got this, old man," he said.

"The fuck?"

"Now, now, Astor," Hollie said, standing beside Qrow. "Give your father some respect."

"I know, ma," Astor said. "Don't worry, pops, I got this."

"You givin' him the lead this time?" Qrow asked Hollie.

"Some songs are all him," she replied. "But mostly it's still me."

"Still a rock star, huh?"

She giggled before giving him a peck on the nose. "Wish us luck!"

"Good luck, beb." He turned to Astor. "Kick some ass, kiddo."

Astor gave him a casual mock salute before heading onstage with his mother. Qrow turned to Lilly, whose excitement was overflowing.

"Oooh!" Lilly squealed. "Professor Branwen! Can you sing, too?"

"Hell no," Qrow said. "I can caw."

"Caw? Oh! Cuz you're a crow! Qrow! Crow!"

He chuckled. "Okay, kid, get back to your friends. Don't wanna miss the thing you spent all month organizing."

Lilly skipped back to her group, swiftly dodging other students along the way.

"Where the heck have you been?" Ingrid asked her.

"Just making sure everything's ready!" Lilly said before they all turned their attention to the stage, where Gina and Xanthus were getting ready for their announcement.

"All right, everybody, it's the moment you've all been waiting for!" Gina began. "And it looks like a lot more people just showed up."

"Just in time for your free concert," Xanthus said. "Without further ado, please welcome to the stage, Lyon's Pride!"

The entire hall went into an uproar as the first song opened up with instant vocals from the entire band as a single, unified voice. At Hollie's urging, all of those in attendance joined in the song.

 _Baby! It's time to make up your mind!_

 _I think that tonight is when our stars align!_

 _Honey! It's time to leave the doubt behind!_

 _Take my hand 'cause you and I are gonna shine!_

The instant the intro melody finished, dancers all around paired up. Ingrid initiated the contact with the hesitant Yuan while Lilly and Leon were quick to partner up. Xanthus shared a bow with Echo before dancing and Athena paired with Perseus.

"Yo, Xanthus!" Perseus said. "Next song you and I will pair up, okay?"

"Huh?" he said. "Why?"

"So Echo can have a dance with Athena!"

He chuckled. "Sure."

"Aren't you the gentleman?" Athena said.

"Nah," Perseus said. "I just want all of us to have a shot with each other."

"What about Team LILY?"

"They're on their own. I'm looking out for my team first."

"Didn't we all come here as Lilly's dates, though?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, and we'll all come back together eventually, but hell, when the tournament hits, we'll be fighting in teams of four, not eight. Although it would be sick as fuck if we could have two teams against two teams at the same time."

"I don't think that's gonna happen."

"Me neither."

Hollie waved to the crowd, which cheered back as she took center stage.

"How's y'all doin' tonight, huh?" she yelled to even louder cheering. "I hope you guys have a lot of energy to burn, cuz we're here to rock! But before we get into our next song, you guys should meet my boy, Astor, over here on the lead guitar. C'mon, son, say hi to the crowd!"

Astor walked to the edge of the stage, waving to everyone and reaching down to touch hands with some of the people at the very front. His shoulder-length, golden-brown hair glistened in the lights above as he returned to his place.

"You ready?" Hollie said into her mic.

"Born ready," Astor replied into his own microphone.

"Sing it with us if you know the song!"

Naturally, that did not even have to be said. The crowd was going to sing along to their favorite music from their favorite rock band no matter what.

 _You are my star_

 _You are the one_

 _You make me smile when the world's come undone_

 _You are the one who sweeps me off my feet_

 _You totally rock_

 _You're crazy and cool_

 _Everything's all that I love about you_

 _Girl of my dreams you would make my life complete_

"I love this song!" Lilly said as she danced with Yuan.

"I don't really listen to music, so I don't know it," he said.

"Aww, poo, don't be like that!"

"I mean, I enjoy it, but I don't listen to music."

"Well, you're gonna start today!"

He chuckled. "All right."

 _What am I supposed to do_

 _Just sit here and not fall in love with you?_

 _Can I do anything to conceal it?_

 _Can I lock up my heart and not feel it?_

 _Try to hide from the fact_

 _That there's no turning back_

 _I'm in love_

"You really are beautiful tonight," Leon said to Ingrid as they danced.

" _Tonight_?" she growled.

"Yeah. Every other night you look weird."

She snarled before he spun her around and pulled her against him as he held her by the hands. She couldn't help but chuckle. "You really go out of your way to be a dickhead to me, don't you?"

"Well, that's cuz you're special."

She recoiled as a hand went to one of her cat ears and started playing with it. She ducked and turned around to face him with her hands on her hips. They stared at each other for a while before Leon's stupid grin became contagious.

"Touch my ears again," she said. "I dare you."

"Okay!" he said before reaching up, but the ears he grabbed were not real. She had left him a shadow clone of herself. "Hey, that's not cool!"

"Psh!" she said as she leaned against his back. He smiled as he leaned into her as well.

"Back to back," he said. "You know I got yours, pretty kitty."

She smiled before turning her head to Yuan and Lilly, watching as he bowed and she curtseyed as the song came to an end.

"All right, now, we've got something special in store for you guys tonight," Hollie said during an interlude into the next song. "How would you guys all feel if I told you..." she glanced over at Astor, "...that we have two guests coming to join us on stage tonight? Two guests who are actually down there with you right now."

Murmurs went all around the great hall.

"Who's she talking about?" Lilly said.

Leon shrugged. "You're the one who organized this thing," he said.

"Yeah, you don't even know what you put together?" Ingrid chuckled.

"Th-That's not it," Lilly said. "I never heard of anything like this being part of the program."

"Guest singers or guitarists, maybe?" Perseus said. "Xanthus, you know anything about this?"

"First I've heard of it," Xanthus said.

"How do we have two of the event's organizers right here and they don't have a clue what's going on?"

"Okay, it's time to cut the suspense!" Hollie said. "You two know who you are! Come on up and join us!"

"I guess that's our cue," Athena said to Leon.

"Yup," he said, turning to Lilly. "I'll see you when the song's over?"

"Wait, what?" Lilly said.

"Hang on," Perseus said. " _You two_ are the guest performers?"

Athena gave him a smirk, winking at Echo before leading the way up to the stage. Cheers went around as Leon and Athena joined the band.

"I did not see this coming," Echo said.

"They must have spoken with them about this without involving the council," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"I'm not surprised," Ingrid said. They all turned to her. "Astor went to Signal with us. We all kinda grew up together."

There was no time for further questioning. The song was about to begin. Hollie started with a few soft chords on the keyboard before Athena sang the first lines.

 _You don't know what it's like to live in shadows_

 _Always regretting what you've done_

 _Spending time counting every little mistake_

 _Knowing it's always easier to run_

Leon started up the guitar riff, singing his half of the lyrics.

 _You don't have to spend your life looking backward_

 _We've been through this over and over again_

 _You can't just wish it away_

 _The past is the past, it'll never change_

 _That was before, this is now and when_

 _We have a chance to make it better if we try_

 _Oh, but I will not endanger one more friend_

 _You're free to do the things you want_

 _But listen, so am I_

 _I've made my choice_

 _And now I'm making mine_

Lilly and the rest of the crowd couldn't contain the energy anymore and the entire room exploded into song and dance.

 _Go where you need to_

 _Know I won't leave you_

 _I'll follow you like morning follows night_

 _You can run 'til your pain's through_

 _One thing I won't do_

 _Is to let you go alone to face the fight_

Lilly danced energetically with her entire group, but she couldn't get her mind off of what she had noticed throughout the whole song. Leon constantly stole glances over at her. Or perhaps it was Ingrid he kept looking at. After all, they were standing side by side. It was easy to make that mistake.

She gasped as she realized that she was even concerned that he might be singing to her. Why would that bother her? It shouldn't at all, not if they were all here just as friends, which is what they had agreed on when Xanthus first pitched the idea of going as a giant group. Calling everyone her date was just a joke tacked on later on to match the lily pins she had given all of them.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ingrid asked.

"Huh?" Lilly said. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You're just spacing out, that's all."

"Just thinking about the future again, that's all! Cuz you know it's so cool that you guys all know the band and stuff and that you even grew up together ohmygosh and now Athena and Leon are singing up there and that's so cool and—"

"Breathe, Machinegun Lilly, breathe!"

She laughed. "Sorry!"

"You really like the band, don't you?"

"I mean, have you _seen_ my playlist?"

"I have, actually. Lots of Lyon's Pride in there."

"Exactly! I mean, they could even use some of that music as a soundtrack for an animated web series! It's _that_ good!"

Ingrid chuckled. "Okay, fangirl."

Leon and Athena both returned to the crowd amid cheers and high fives left and right.

"You have a beautiful voice," Perseus said.

"Thank you," Leon said with a grin.

"Uh, I was talking to your sister?"

The group shared a chuckle.

"Are we staying to the end?" Athena asked.

"Of course we're staying to the end!" Lilly said. "How could you even say that?"

She chuckled. "I was just wondering cuz I don't know if there are still gonna be places open after midnight."

"Yeah, shit, I'm bungry," Leon said.

"Bungry?" Yuan asked.

"It's his stupid slang," Ingrid said. "Don't let him infect you."

He chuckled.

"I don't appreciate your insinuation," Leon said, furrowing his eyebrows at her.

"You gonna cry?" Ingrid said.

"Shut up."

"It's okay for boys to cry, you know."

"I'm glad you two are back to normal," Athena said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ingrid and Leon yelled at the same time before turning to one another and growling. Ingrid was the first to break bearing and started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Leon asked her.

"Muffin," she said, pairing up with Lilly. "You go find another partner. Lilly's all mine."

"Psh. Fine, then. Yuan, let's dance."

"Okay," Yuan said.

"You know what," Athena said, "where did Penny go?"

"Oh!" Lilly said. "She went to go hang out with the old guys!"

"Old guys?" Xanthus said.

"Yeah! You know, the teachers and stuff!"

—

"Clear," Penny said into her radio microphone as she apprehended a would-be terrorist. "Qrow, how are things on your end?"

"We picked up his partner heading to the woods," he replied. "Did that guy give you any trouble?"

"You're asking the girl who took down four Omegas by herself," Oscar said.

"Heh, yeah, I guess that asshole didn't stand a chance, did he?"

"Okay, up you go," Penny said, picking up the intruder by his collar. "Huh. You're just a boy. They're recruiting kids now?"

"I ain't sayin' shit," the boy said.

"That's fine. I don't have time for you right now anyway. We'll let the police deal with you. I have a dance to go back to."

Penny and Qrow both delivered their prisoners to the main security team at the campus quad. Everything was kept quiet to prevent panic, but all it would take is one student spotting the big security truck in the quad and things would get rowdy.

"Okay, get 'em outta here," Qrow said, thumping the side of the truck with his fist. "You were able to chase that guy down in heels?"

"Damn right," Penny said. "Can't a girl be a hero _and_ look good?"

He chuckled. "I'm just curious as to what those two were doing trying to get into the CCTS tower."

"We just combed through the comm system," Glynda said as she and Oscar joined them. "There's nothing out of the ordinary."

"Headmaster Pine!" one of the search team members said as he ran to them. "We found these."

Bombs.

"They were placed all around the main support struts of the tower. The whole thing was rigged so it would fall and crush the main hall while the students were in there."

"Fuck me," Qrow said.

"They were planning something like that?" Penny yelled.

"No idea," the patrolman said. "It could be we just caught them before they finished planting all of the explosives."

"We'll find out after the interrogation," Oscar said. "Penny, you should probably head back to the dance. Your friends will be missing you."

"But—"

"We'll be fine, kiddo," Qrow said. "Let us old people do old people things. You go do young people stuff."

She sighed.

"There will be plenty of battles to fight in the future," Glynda said. "Our enemy never sleeps, after all."

"Exactly," Qrow said. "So go have some fun with kids your age while you have the chance."

Penny chuckled. "Kids my age?"

"Well, technically, right? I mean, you were only born, what, twenty years ago?"

"Sure, I guess. Still, it's a little bit weird being friends with the children of my old friends."

"Tell me about it," Oscar said, rolling his eyes.

Penny giggled. "Okay, then, I'll see you guys later!"

—

It was just about midnight when Winter Formal ended. It took nearly four hours before everything wrapped up. Even Hollie's band still had the energy to go the full length. After all, an entire school with the energy of young adults and their enthusiasm for old and new songs was more than enough to keep them pumped for the whole night.

"Ah, the moon is so bright!" Lilly said, the first of their group to step out of the hall. She and the others had helped out with the cleanup.

"I must thank you all again for helping," Xanthus said to the group. "You didn't have to, and yet you did."

"Hey, man," Perseus said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Anything for our class president."

"Did you have fun, Miss Penny?"

"Of course!" she said. "You guys did great putting this together, by the way." She turned to the twins. "And you two have amazing voices! I had no idea!"

"Heh," Leon said bashfully.

"My goodness," Athena said, rolling her eyes. "That shy act isn't gonna work on her, you know."

"What shy act?" Leon yelled back. "I'm not acting shy!"

"Whatever."

"Hey, guys, thanks for helping us pack," Astor said as he joined them outside.

"Bruh," Leon said, sharing a big bro-hug with him. "Damn, dude, you got a helluva voice."

"Me? Shit, your singing gave me a broner."

"Damn, son. But your guitar playing, though. Smooth as silk, man."

"Okay!" Ingrid yelled. "Would you two get a fucking room already?"

"So, you guys all grew up together, huh?" Lilly said, standing in front of them.

"Yeah," Astor said. "Mom made me attend Signal with them so I could go off and see the world. Leon and I regularly did gigs with Athena as our lead back in the day."

"That's so cool!"

"It was, actually," he said, flipping his hair back. "She's the only one with more beautiful hair than me, too."

"Oh, wow," Athena said. "Not that I'm arguing with you because that's very true."

"So," Ingrid said. "What've you been up to?"

"Just doing the whole Haven Academy thing," Astor said. "We're on winter break right now, though, so mom thought it would be a good idea to come out and play for your winter formal."

"You guys don't have your own dance?"

"Nah. Our student council is more interested in doing different kinds of events. Fundraisings, community service, tutoring, stuff like that. Never anything fun."

"Hey, but those can be fun!" Lilly said. "With the right people!"

"True, true."

"If you guys ain't shippin' out tonight," Leon said, "we got a futon in our dorm."

"Hey, man, if we can get just one night catchin' up, hell yeah. Besides, I miss Ingrid and Athena."

Athena chuckled as Astor wrapped both arms around her and Ingrid. "You haven't changed," she said.

"And you're just as beautiful as ever," he said, pecking her on the cheek before turning to Ingrid. "And your kitty ears are just as cute as I remember."

"Don't touch them," she said sternly.

He laughed. "Relax. Unlike _somebody_ here, I know all about personal bubbles."

They all looked to Leon.

"What?" he said.

"Oh, I know," Astor said, unzipping his guitar backpack and handing his instrument to Leon. "How 'bout a song, huh?"

"Why me?" Leon said.

"Cuz my voice is all shot, dude. Let's hear it."

He glanced over to Lilly, who was standing next to Ingrid and Penny, all three girls smiling at him. Lilly's smile alone was enough to compel him to play.

"Yay!" Lilly said.

"This is for the birthday girl, then," Leon said, starting to pluck.

"Birth...day?" Xanthus said.

"Oh, that's right!" Perseus said. "Yo! What time is it?"

Athena looked at her scroll. "Twelve o...oh shit! That's right!"

"Happy birthday, Lilly!" all of Team APEX said at once along with Team LILY and Penny.

"There it is," Astor said. "C'mon, then, Pretty Red Rose, sing us a song, you handsome motherfucker!"

"Jeez," Leon chuckled before starting the song.

The tune was upbeat and uplifting in melody. The lyrics, which included the words "dancing in the moonlight," were absolutely perfect for the situation. The full, unbroken moon was shining high in the night sky tonight, casting the entire quad in a bright, silver glow. The march back to their dorm was a perfect mirror to their first day of classes, except instead of parkour, Lilly led with dancing and singing along.

She couldn't be any more perfect in his eyes tonight, beautiful white and pale blue dress glistening in the silver moonlight as she danced and twirled, enjoying the melody he was creating. None of the others could get his attention now. His song wasn't for anyone else. It was for her and her alone.

In the meantime, Ingrid stole glance after glance at her two teammates. Lilly wasn't paying any attention to Leon, who was giving her _all_ of his attention, and yet it seemed they were creating this music together, him with the strumming and plucking of his guitar strings and the sound of his voice and her with the graceful lines of every movement of her body as she danced her heart out.

"You spying on our teammates?" Yuan said to her, walking in stride.

"I think everything turned out for the best," she said with a smile.

"You think so?"

"Definitely."


	19. Chapter XIX

CHAPTER XIX

 _Destiny_

Lilly yelped as she was thrown to the ground, her aura breaking as her shoulder impacted the concrete hard enough to send pain shooting throughout her body. She lost her grip on Myrtenaster and it slid all the way to the wall. She tried to push herself upright, but her shoulder was in immense pain and she could barely remain conscious, struggling just to suppress the throbbing.

 _Not good,_ she thought. _My sword arm is useless._

She leaped to dodge an incoming fireball, but without her weapon, all she could do was manage evasion. That was fine. If she could keep this up for the thirty seconds it took her aura to fully recover from its null state, she'd be battle primed in no time. All she had to do was get her weapon back and formulate some kind of strategy.

Planning was useless at this point, however. With all of the Dust attacks headed her way, it was impossible to formulate anything even resembling a plan. She had her back up against the wall this time, both literally and figuratively. But she could not give up, not yet, not with her team relying on her.

She turned to her left. Yuan and Leon had their hands full. Ingrid was nowhere to be found. Lilly had to trust that her partner wasn't dead yet and was somehow managing to evade their enemy's incessant attacks.

Another wave of Dust attacks came at her and she dodged, rolling into a squat, her right arm still dangling uselessly to the side. She spotted Ingrid and went into instant tunnel vision. Her partner was on the ground, unmoving.

"Ingrid!" she yelled, darting to her friend's side. She shook her with her only working arm. "Ingrid!"

Her partner opened her eyes. "What...what happened?" she managed.

"Get up! We have to move!"

Before she could respond, something exploded near them. In a split second, Lilly's hearing turned into nothing more than a loud whine that muffled all other sounds around her. She felt like the world was spinning around her. No, it wasn't the world spinning. It was her, spinning as she soared through the air before crashing hard into something. None of that pain registered in her mind, though. Everything was just a blur at this point, including the part where someone carried her off to only the gods knew where.

As she drifted into and out of consciousness, she intermittently saw visions of her mother. She was always tending to those lilies in the garden, the white and gold ones that grew only in the region surrounding Oasis, the only temperate zone in all of Solitas.

"Mom!" Lilly shouted as she ran to her.

"Lilly," Weiss replied, smiling as her daughter embraced her tightly. "You're home earlier than usual."

"Just wanted to drop by! I've missed you, mom!"

"I've missed you, too, darling. But aren't you forgetting something?"

"Huh?"

"Your team."

"My...my team..."

Lilly opened her eyes wide, looking up into Yuan's jade colored eyes as he supported her. The ground rumbled from time to time from the impact of something, probably bombs. Lilly's hearing was still fuzzy from that blast earlier.

"Where's Ingrid?" Lilly yelled, about to leap out of Yuan's arms before the pain in her shoulder came back full force and she winced.

"Right here," Ingrid said. Blood was streaming down her forehead.

"Are you okay?"

"I was gonna ask you the same. I think we got hit by a bomb."

Lilly closed her eyes to try and regain her focus. Her aura had just been restored, but in the midst of a battle and with real wounds sustained from when her aura was down, none of that meant anything. She took a few seconds to assess their situation. She was with Yuan and Ingrid in some kind of alcove created by fallen debris. She could feel his aura surrounding both her and Ingrid, bolstering their defenses and healing ability. Leon was in the fray, dodging and counterattacking, using his teleportation Semblance in perfect moderation, not too much to be detrimental to his aura, but in perfect tandem with his defense and offense.

"I got this back for you, too," Yuan said, holding out Myrtenaster for her.

Lilly reached out, but her arm wouldn't obey her commands. She looked over at her shoulder. Something was off about it.

"I think it's dislocated," Yuan said.

"That's not good," Ingrid said.

"Oh," Lilly said with sarcasm dripping. "I was wondering why it was sore."

"I can fix it for you," Yuan said.

Lilly knew that meant a serious amount of pain, but it had to be done. After all, her aura's healing was already getting to work and it would be terrible if her body healed itself fully with her shoulder still dislocated.

"Okay, are you ready?" Yuan said, positioning his hands on her shoulder.

"Of course not," Lilly said, immediately following with a scream as Yuan reset her shoulder joint.

"Shit," Ingrid said, her mouth agape.

"Okay," Lilly panted, "we have to get back out there."

"But you just—"

"Leon needs our help! We're a team! We stick together!"

Yuan and Ingrid looked at each other before turning to their team leader and nodding. Lilly was the first to emerge from their hiding spot, Myrtenaster in her left hand as her right side was still in pain, though functional. She hadn't had much practice using this weapon in this hand, but the way it was formed and fitted made it perfect, as if it belonged there. Her mom was the one who crafted it, after all, designing it to fit a lefty like a glove.

"Leon, get down!" Lilly said, switching to Fire Dust for an assault on their enemies. The dozen or so Grimm surrounding Leon were completely annihilated by the inferno.

"Thanks!" Leon said before engaging another set of Grimm.

Ingrid glanced down at Lilly's weapon. She was out of Dust in all of her cartridges. She was going to tell her to reload when she realized that even her pouches were empty. They had been at this battle for too long already.

"Okay, cover me!" Lilly said, dashing ahead.

"Wait!" Ingrid called out. "Lilly!"

"She doesn't realize she's out of ammunition, does she?" Yuan said, activating the lightning rod feature on Heaven Scorcher.

"Yeah, and it's not gonna be good." She pulled Shadow Blitz apart and reattached it end to end, forming it into a double-ended spear. "C'mon, let's cover her."

This battle had begun as a training exercise, but like any battle against the Grimm, it devolved into the chaos they were now embroiled in. That there was an Omega amongst the Grimm pack made it even more difficult than it should have been, but a single Omega against four of the best Huntsmen in training Beacon Academy had ever seen was better odds than their last encounter with these abominations.

Ingrid watched as her partner drove Myrtenaster up into the chin of an attacking Beowolf, killing it with a single thrust of her weapon. She had gone so much farther than everyone else in their circle of friends. Lilly began her career at Beacon as the weakest student to ever enroll in any of the Academies, but she was now in the top ten of the first year class, steadily moving up the ranks.

Gone was the timidity and hesitance from her first battles as well. Painted on Lilly's face now was the look of a seasoned warrior, a ruthless killer of Grimm. It was true that roses had their thorns, but Ingrid never imagined that a lily could be just as deadly.

"Shit!" Leon said, holding up Vermillion Crescent to block against an incoming attack.

"Not this time!" Lilly said, standing between him and the Omega.

"Lilly! No!"

"You're not having your way with us! Not today!"

Just as the Omega unleashed a barrage of Dust attacks, Lilly pointed Myrtenaster at her enemy. She was out of Dust for her weapon, but that didn't matter. The only thought on her mind right now was protecting her team.

"Take this!" she yelled as something pulsed from within her body. At the tip of Myrtenaster, projecting in the air like a hologram, appeared a circle of foreign lettering and geometric shapes. The entire sigil was pale green in color, appearing animated as the foreign lettering circled around the center along with the other unfamiliar symbols and geometric formations.

Out of this holographic circle of pale green light emerged a stream of lightning bolts, nullifying the Omega's attack and electrocuting it with such force that its aura shattered. Lilly went for another attack, aiming Myrtenaster again and forming another circle of geometric shapes and unknown lettering, this one different from the last. It was blue in color, also animated and glowing. From this circle emerged a storm of cold, freezing the Omega where it stood and glaciating the area surrounding it.

Leon gawked for a moment before activating his Semblance, teleporting all the way to the frozen Omega before cleaving it in half with his scythe.

"Vermillion Crescent steals another heart of one of my enemies," he said as he spun his weapon before resting it on the ground and leaning against it.

Lilly beamed at him. "We make an awesome team!"

He felt his face warm up. "We do, don't we?"

Yuan and Ingrid exchanged grins before joining them. The other Grimm had fled and they had no intention of chasing them after what they had been through.

"I am fucking tired," Ingrid said.

"You and me both," Leon yawned.

"So," Yuan began, "is anyone going to address this big elephant in the room?"

"Huh?" Lilly said excitedly, looking around. "Elephants? Where? I've never seen elephants in real life before!"

"Wait, you're serious about that, aren't you?" Leon said.

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"

"Don't forget," Ingrid said. "This is the girl who didn't know the difference between a Creep and a Beowolf for the longest time, even though those are more common than elephants."

"Hey!" Lilly frowned, throwing her fists on her hips.

The others chuckled.

"So, it's true."

Team LILY turned to face Penny, who was approaching them with Qrow close behind.

"Penny!" Lilly said. "Hi!"

Penny chuckled. "That was great work."

"She's complimenting you right now," Qrow began, "but you have no idea how hard I had to work to keep her from rushing in and interfering with your fight."

" _Rescuing_ , Qrow, not 'interfering'."

"They had that Omega handled and you know it."

"I'm not doing this right now. Anyway, Lilly, that thing you did."

"Huh?" Lilly said.

"With your weapon."

Lilly brought up Myrtenaster. Penny was referring to that holographic image that appeared at the tip of her weapon when she projected what, in her mind, was a Dust attack. The first time it happened was with their first encounter against the Omega Grimm, when Athena nearly lost her life. She hadn't fully taken notice of it back then since her focus was on keeping her friend safe, but this time was much different. After all, she did it twice in a row. And she was lucid enough to remember every detail.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Lilly said, continuing to stare at Myrtenaster.

"Nope," Penny said. "In fact, I'd say this is all meant to be."

Lilly looked at her.

"Do you believe in destiny, Lilly?"

"I mean, I'd like to think so. Wait, you mean like how Yuan and Ingrid are destined to be together?"

Both subjects of her sentence instantly stiffened and reddened, turning slightly away from each other. Penny couldn't help but laugh.

"I was thinking more along the lines of legacy," Penny said. "You're aware of your family's Semblance, right?"

Lilly flinched. This wasn't the first time in her life that the subject had been brought up. It certainly wouldn't be the last. The Schnee Family was famous for its genetically passed glyph Semblance, which permitted them all sorts of power, much of which was very well suited for combat purposes. It wasn't any secret that Lilly was the only one in her entire lineage that did not inherit this trait. She also had different eyes than the rest of the family. It seemed she was not destined for the greatness that every other Schnee was meant for.

Penny's empathy Semblance permitted her to feel every ounce of Lilly's emotions. The weight of the Schnee legacy was almost crushing, but both girls managed to stay on their feet, undaunted by the pressure. Penny wished to say something to her pupil, anything to get her mind off of all that negativity, but she understood that this was something Lilly had to overcome on her own, just as her mother did before her.

 _But you don't deserve to be alone,_ Penny thought. _Not you of all people._

"There's something interesting about that new power of yours," Yuan said. "From what I've read, the Schnee Semblance of glyph projection is not all that different, right? Except that it's supposed to be a...snowflake?"

"Yes," Penny said. "The Schnee Semblance consists of glyph formation that takes the shape of what has come to be the Schnee crest, which looks like a snowflake."

"But hers wasn't anything like that," Leon said. "It was like...like magic or something."

"In a language I've never seen before," Ingrid added.

They all turned to Penny.

"There's a reason I asked you if you believed in destiny," she said. "The reason I said that is because..." She sniffled as the weight of the situation settled on her shoulders. "It's because..." Her eyes blurred with tears as his face flashed before her eyes.

Qrow sensed his companion's distress and stepped forward. "It's not the first time we've seen those runes," he said.

"Runes?" Yuan said.

Qrow glanced at Penny, who was working to regain her composure. She, too, realized that Lilly seemed to know nothing about her father. If Weiss kept that a secret from her, there must have been a good reason, and these two were not the type to go around getting involved in matters that sensitive. Prodding into such things could only end in heartache for everyone involved. Besides that, it seemed Weiss and Lilly had a strong relationship and this youngster certainly appeared to have an idyllic upbringing in spite of what she lacked. Both Qrow and Penny decided it was better to keep quiet about the matter.

"Yeah," Qrow said. "Runes. One of our fellow warriors who fought against Salem and her forces had the power of Rune Magic. He could basically use Dust-like attacks without actually using Dust. He had this power that came from a magical arm and some shit like that. Except I don't remember it ever projecting into the air the way yours did, Lilly."

"Who was this guy?" Leon said. "Sounds like a hell of a Huntsman."

"He wasn't a Huntsman. He was a Knight."

That word made Ingrid's cat ears perk up. "Wait, did you say 'knight'?" she asked.

"Yup."

"As in, Beacon Academy's Knight Division kind of knight?"

"That's exactly who it was named after."

"Am I correct in concluding, then," Yuan began, "that the knight statue in the center of Beacon Academy's quad is meant to be a direct representation of him?"

"That's right," Penny said, wiping away tears. "What I told you before is true, that the knight statue represents all of the hundreds of warriors who died in the previous war to keep our world safe. But it also serves as a living reminder of the man who carried us all up until the final moments of that conflict." She sniffled.

"Penny?" Lilly said, putting a hand to her arm.

"Yeah, it's nothing. I just..." She sighed heavily. "The story always gets to me, that's all. From what I've heard, he shouldered nearly _all_ of the burdens of that war, even going so far as to...give up his own life for all of us." Her tears began to fall again and there was no way to stop them this time. Qrow rubbed her back softly.

"I actually fought alongside the guy myself," Qrow continued the story. "He was a hell of a dude, I'll tell ya. A bit of a stiff asshole, but man, nobody had honor and courage like that son of a bitch."

"What was he like?" Leon asked. "And how come you and mom and dad and grampa Tai never told us about this guy?"

"Let's go talk about this somewhere safer, huh?"

—

"Son of a bitch," Perseus mumbled, rotating his shoulder repeatedly. "That fucking Ursa."

"I thought you were a goner with that hit," Athena said, leading the way back to Mountain Glen.

"I should've been, if it weren't for this baby." He kissed his shield. "Thanks for murdering that asshole, by the way, Echo."

She held out a fist for him and he bumped it with his own before wincing.

"That's what you get for using your fucked up arm," Athena chuckled.

"Hmm," Xanthus said, checking his scroll. "It seems Team LILY is also finished with their patrol."

He was going to push up his glasses when Echo reached over and pushed them up for him. He turned to her. She was smiling at him. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"I am very glad you are opening up to your teammates," he said to her.

"I figure I'm stuck with you guys," she said, "so I was like, fuck it, what've I got to lose?"

"Your life for starters," Athena said. "I mean, look at today. Perseus almost bit it."

"I mean, not that long ago, life was pretty cheap. The Grimm made sure of that."

"Speaking of those fuckers," Perseus said. "Aren't they supposed to be, like, on the verge of extinction or something? Why the hell are there so many so close to settlements like Mountain Glen? It's not like we're all that far from Vale, you know. There are towns in the middle of bumfuck nowhere that don't get as much Grimm traffic as we do here."

"Well, they do congregate where a lot of negativity is concentrated," Xanthus said. "Metropolitan areas tend to be rife with crime and despondency, especially with the recent explosion in population."

"Yeah, but still. Remember Professor Beautiful's lecture the other day? The older Grimm aren't stupid. They stay away from human settlements cuz they tend to die."

"Professor Beautiful?"

"He's talking about Glynda Goodwitch," Athena said, to which Xanthus sighed heavily.

"Hey, that's what Professor Branwen calls her," Perseus said with a shrug.

"You're gonna get into serious trouble one of these days," Echo said, taking aim at a drone high up in the sky and taking it down with a single arrow to the engine. They all watched as it crashed into a nearby lake.

"I'm wondering how _you_ haven't gotten into any trouble after shooting down, what, fifty of those now?" Athena said.

"Hey, they're stupid enough to keep sending them. They make for good target practice."

She chuckled. "Oh, hey, there they are."

"Shit, Lilly looks like she's in bad shape," Perseus said.

Echo was the first to run to them as both teams came upon the city gates.

"Oh, hey guys!" Lilly greeted Team APEX.

"You're holding your weapon with your left hand," Echo said. "Why?"

"Oh, just, my right arm is a little sore."

"Hey, we're twinsies," Perseus said. "I injured my left shoulder!"

Lilly giggled before standing next to him and bumping her good shoulder against his.

"Little brother!" Athena said before grasping Leon in a strong embrace. "You're not hurt are you? No scratches? Broken bones?"

"Dude, get off!" he said, pushing her away, to which she laughed. "Jeez!"

"Ingrid, is he giving you a hard time?"

"You know he always gives me a hard time," she said, her arms folded across her chest.

"How did the patrol go?" Xanthus asked Yuan.

"Let's talk in the mess hall," Penny said. "We have a lot to catch up on."

—

It was early May. A lot had happened since the spring semester began, but the students' focus was mainly on getting in shape for the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament, which was only two months away. Classes for this semester would end mid-June and they would only have two weeks afterward until the Vytal Festival, which was slated to take place throughout all of July.

Today's patrol was just another step on the long road to becoming ready for the tournament. Only eight teams from each academy were chosen to participate. Ideally, this meant two teams from each school year, but some of the top contenders for participation this time came from the first year. Team LILY was among those, alongside Team APEX, Team PDTR, and Team ORNJ. Teams SQRL and GOTE, both top performers in the third-year class, were also expected to compete.

Although these patrols served as training for Team LILY and APEX, it had a second purpose. The Grimm had recently been increasing in number and with the repeated appearances of the Omega Grimm, security had to be bolstered. Vale was hosting the festival this year and they needed to ensure that the increase in population would not strain the already fragile state of the city. The past two decades' population explosion all around the globe pushed resource management to the limit, and yet this would not stop the festival from occurring. Not one of the kingdoms would ever admit to having their resources stretched thin.

"So," Leon said, taking a seat between Lilly and Ingrid. "This knight."

"Right," Qrow said. "He, uh, how do I put this? He came out of nowhere. Nobody knows where the hell he came from, just that he was a knight. He was the strongest player we had in that entire war. He actually single-handedly took care of the Mistral Defense Campaign."

"That was the attack on Haven Academy and the city itself coordinated by the White Fang, was it not?" Xanthus asked.

"Yup. That crazy knight was stubborn as all hell. Didn't know how to quit. Faced with odds that would make anyone in this mess hall shit their pants, he stood his ground and took on thousands of Grimm all by himself."

"Thousands?" Athena and Leon said at the same time.

Qrow nodded.

"That's..." Perseus trailed off. "I mean, we face off against a hundred and we get close to getting wiped out sometimes."

"That's the difference between us and him," Penny said, finally breaking her silence. She swallowed hard, fighting to keep the emotions down. "He would never be overcome, even with the weight of all of Remnant on his shoulders."

"Does this guy have a name?" Ingrid asked.

Penny and Qrow paused for a moment, glancing at each other before eyeing Lilly, who was intently listening to the story, touching none of her food.

"He was called," Penny began, "Sir Bedivere of Kameloth."

"Kameloth?" Lilly said.

"His, uh, home country, I guess," Qrow said.

"I've never heard of such a place," Xanthus said. "Perhaps it was a town or village that was destroyed during the war."

"Yeah, that's right. Kameloth was his home, destroyed by the forces of darkness."

"Damn the Grimm," Perseus said. "So he took up the sword and shield and became a knight to fight against the darkness, huh?"

Of course, that did not even come close to touching the true story, but Penny and Qrow were content with running with it.

"That's right," Penny said. "He was the light which shone into the darkness."

Echo eyed Penny from her corner of the table. From the way she spoke about him, her hand gestures, her body language, the tone of her voice, there was something more to this knight than either she or Qrow were letting on. Qrow, on the other hand, was clearly a good liar. After all, not once did he falter during the story. Echo wondered what it was about this knight that made Penny so emotional just thinking about that statue in the quad.

"And this knight guy could use these magical rune thingies, too?" Leon said.

"Yup," Qrow said. "Nobody knows how the hell the thing even works. He's literally the only one who can do it. And since he gave his life to end the war, there's no one else alive who knows what it even really is."

"I mean, that's cool and all," Ingrid began, "but that doesn't explain how Lilly can do it."

"Well," Penny began, "it's not exactly the same. It looks similar, but from what I remember, none of his runes floated in the air like that. What Lilly does is more similar to the Schnee Semblance."

"Wait, so then you _do_ have the family Semblance," Leon said.

"Their Semblance is a snowflake," Lilly said. "Not a bunch of colored lines and ancient letters floating in the air."

Only Penny picked up on what she had just said. She had used the word "their" instead of "our."

"I don't get it," Leon said. "If you don't have the Schnee Semblance, then what _is_ your Semblance?"

She shrugged.

"You know," Athena began. "Dad went through the same thing back when he was a student here with mom."

"Oh, right," Leon said. "He didn't discover his Semblance until they were smack dab in the middle of the war."

"I don't think that's your Semblance," Yuan said, catching the table's attention. "One's Semblance actively uses one's aura, correct? Because of the fact that it is directly tied to the soul. I did not detect Lilly's aura deplete today when she used it. And the first time it happened was against the four Omega Grimm months ago. Her aura had been completely broken and yet she was still able to call on those powers."

"I do remember that," Perseus said. "Huh. So you have superpowers and an unknown Semblance. You're quite the mysterious girl, Lilly."

She chuckled. "I mean, it's not all that special."

"Are you kidding?" Echo said from the other side of the table. "That's _super cool_!"

"Whoa," Leon said, surprised by her outburst.

"We've been watching anime together," Ingrid said. "So this is like something out of an anime. And yeah."

"Anime?" Perseus said before turning to Xanthus and Yuan. "Wait, that's the cartoon stuff you guys have in Mistral, right?"

"Yes," Xanthus answered, pushing up his glasses. "It is an animation style that originates from our home country."

"Yeah, I think I've seen some on the internet, but I never really got into any of it."

"Anyway," Athena said, turning to Lilly. "I think we should really work on that new rune power of yours. It could come in handy against the Grimm and at the tournament."

"I dunno," Lilly said, poking at her green beans with her fork. "It's not like I even know what the heck it is or how I do it."

"Okay," Penny said, looking her in the eye. "I thought you've gotten over this downer attitude you always get when something about you comes up."

She didn't answer.

"From senpai to kohai, I will no longer allow you to beat yourself up about crap like this. Whatever this new power of yours is, we're gonna get it out of you, okay?"

"Okay," she said timidly.

"Hey! I want that energy you always have on you!"

Lilly sighed as she looked over at Penny.

"Lilly Schnee!"

"Okay, okay," she said, her shoulders drooping.

"That won't do! Shoulders back and straight! Chin up! Stomach in! Chest out!"

Lilly did just as she was ordered, except that it was an extremely hyper-exaggerated version of what it should have been. Ingrid couldn't help but giggle with Athena and Echo.

"Uh," Perseus said. "Umm."

"Lilly," Leon said. "You're, uh."

"You'll strain yourself if you keep doing that," Xanthus said.

"Huh?" Lilly said, looking at everybody. "What are all of you staring at?"

Yuan snapped a photo of her with his scroll before showing it to her.

"Huh?" she nearly yelled. "What the heck am I _doing_?"

Penny laughed so hard she fell off her bench.

"Uh-oh," Qrow said. "You okay down there, kiddo?"

"Yeah!" she laughed. "I'm great!"

An alarm rang out and they all turned their attention to their scrolls.

"Looks like Grimm," Leon said. "A shitload of them."

"Team APEX!" Athena yelled as she and her team stood up.

"Hooah!" the other three responded before marching with her out of the cafeteria, weapons ready for action.

"C'mon!" Lilly said, leading the way. "We can't get left behind!"

Qrow helped Penny back to her feet.

"They're getting more frequent," she muttered.

"Yeah," Qrow said. "We have to report this to Oz. Things aren't looking good."

"They're not ready."

"Neither were any of you when shit went down last time."


	20. Chapter XX

CHAPTER XX

 _Looming on the Horizon_

"Sector clear!" Athena said into her headset. "We're moving to the main gate to push the Grimm back out of the city!"

"Roger that!" Lilly responded. "My team's guarding the railway. They keep pushing hard in this area."

"Remember to use the security forces, Lilly. Don't overexert yourselves."

"I know. Pace myself."

"Good girl. We'll see you at the rendezvous point!"

"Kick some butt, Athena!"

Athena smiled as she turned to her team. They all nodded to one another before moving as a single, cohesive unit into the fray. The security forces were having trouble with the horde of Grimm assaulting Mountain Glen's main gates, but that's what Team APEX was here for. Only they and Team LILY were given clearance among the first-year students to operate at this level. Qrow and Penny were the professional Huntsmen assigned to oversee their work out here.

Team APEX demonstrated just how it was they managed to earn this privilege. Their coordination was so tight as to be nearly programmed. Athena's primary role was speedy frontal assault while Perseus provided her a strong defense with his much larger and sturdier shield. Xanthus was the team's tactician and technical fighter, keeping track of their flanks and rear. Echo's function was two-fold, ranged assault and danger detection. Her Semblance alone saved her team from certain death more times than they could even tally.

"Rotate!" Xanthus said, relieving Athena from the front line and switching places with her, standing alongside Perseus.

This was another strength of Team APEX. Although every member was heavily specialized, each one was more than capable of supplementing the others. Despite having a dedicated ranged assault team member, they were all capable of fighting at a distance. Athena was a crack shot with Pallas, her spear, which she regularly transformed into a rifle. Aegis, her shield, also doubled as somewhat of a disk-shaped boomerang, bouncing off of enemy after enemy before she used her ferromagnetism Semblance to recall it to her.

Perseus's sword, Andromeda, was capable of transforming into a Dust shotgun, which he reloaded using modules fitted directly into his shield. Although it was much too large for him to throw around the way Athena did, its heft lent itself to be used as a battering ram most of the time. And while Echo's primary role was as the team's archer, her bow, Sentinel, could transform into a staff weapon should the need arise. Most of the time, though, she utilized specialized Dust-tipped arrows, the fletches colored to designate the type.

After months of planning, working, reworking, and altering her plans, Echo settled on a far more simplified version of what she used to work with. She had started with a single quiver filled with different colored arrows to designate what kind of Dust they were loaded with. With newfound field experience in combat, which was far different from hunting for food back home, she came up with a new system: three quivers, one on her back, one on the left of her hip, and one on the right. The quiver on her back was loaded solely with Fire Dust arrows while the one to the left was loaded with Lightning Dust arrows. The quiver on her right hip held her armor-piercing Earth Dust arrows.

She had one final, smaller, well-reinforced container attached to her belt on the back. This one held about a dozen Explosive-Dust-tipped arrows, which were in a configuration much more powerful than the ones she used to use, courtesy of Jupiter Enterprises Dust Subsidiary. For safety reasons, each arrow had to be armed before use and needed to be in a specialized container when not in use in order to prevent unwanted detonations, but the payoff was well worth it. Echo had never imagined that a single arrow could pack the punch of a surface-to-air missile.

At the other end of the spectrum was Xanthus, whose swords did not transform. He was the only one on the team without an actual ranged weapon, but his Semblance more than made up for it. Rather than using Dust as a consumable ammunition source, he channeled his aura through his Dust-infused weapons, projecting the relevant attacks at his enemies, ice with the Sword of Heaven in his right hand and fire with the Sword of Chaos in his left. The Dust forged into the swords was never consumed, though his aura would deplete with each Dust attack wave he would project.

"Athena! Echo! You're up!" Perseus said as he and Xanthus switched places with the girls.

Echo already had an armor-piercing Earth Dust arrow nocked and ready to soar at a moment's notice. Athena was the first to engage an incoming Alpha Beowolf, sliding underneath it and blocking a swipe with her shield as she sliced at its legs with her spear. She continued forth, trusting in Echo's expert aim to finish off her first opponent as she engaged a pack of regular Beowolves.

"We're so lucky to be stuck with such beautiful teammates, don't you think so?" Perseus said, keeping close watch over their rear.

"Oh, thank you," Xanthus said with a smile.

"Not you, friggin' dumbass! I mean, don't get me wrong. You got that red and blue eye thing going on, but I don't swing like that, bro. You're handsome in a bro kind of way, okay?"

"You're handsome yourself, Perseus."

"Bro."

Xanthus continued smiling.

"I regret ever opening my fucking mouth now."

—

Lilly panted as she rejoined the team, which stood back to back with one another. They were surrounded by Grimm of all types.

"Why do we always get the shittiest patrol routes?" Leon said.

"You're tellin' me," Ingrid said.

"Okay, time for our tactic, Meow Mix!"

"I really, _really_ hate that name."

Lilly giggled. "I like it!"

"Ugh! You're supposed to be my partner!"

Ingrid transformed her staff, Shadow Blitz, into a double-ended spear as she broke away from the group, focusing on a Boarbatusk that was preparing to charge at her. The instant it came in range, she expelled a shadow clone infused with Lightning Dust, stunning the creature. She continued onward, leaving the downed Grimm to her teammates as she began an assault against a quintet of Alpha Creeps. Out of all the Grimm they faced, she hated these the most, particularly when they burrowed. She had the edge against them, though. Others would never be able to tell where they would emerge from next, but her Faunus senses enabled her to pick up the most subtle of vibrations.

She timed her attack perfectly, thrusting down just as one of the Alpha Creeps emerged from the ground. It was dead before it surfaced. She broke her weapon apart into two before blitzing another Alpha Creep, which stood no chance against her rapid assault. She spotted an Ursa headed for Lilly and even though she knew her leader could handle even that, she wasn't going to leave her alone. She dropped off two identical shadow clones, which fought independently of her, as she headed to Lilly. Her clones would be capable of fighting on her behalf, complete with her skills and tactical thinking, for about thirty seconds before disappearing. In that span of time, her clones would be able to take out at least some of her enemies while she focused on more important tasks.

"Hey, partner!" Lilly said to Ingrid as she joined her side to face off against the Ursa.

"Traitor," Ingrid said.

She giggled. "What? I think it's a cute name!"

"Ugh."

They made quick work of the Ursa before rejoining Leon and Yuan, the latter of whom had just impaled a medium sized Nevermore with his Ji Halberd, the Heaven Scorcher.

"Slick pole work, man," Leon said, leaning against a train car.

"That's what she said!" Lilly said. Leon gave her a double high-five.

"I can't," Ingrid said, putting a hand to her forehead. "I just can't anymore."

"Heads up!" Leon said.

Yuan was quick to activate Heaven Scorcher's lightning rod feature. Unlike other weapons, his Ji halberd wasn't equipped with the usual Dust module. The head of the polearm had a single Lightning Dust crystal embedded into the center of a device which, when activated, brought the two side blades forward of the spear point, creating a channel for the lightning blast to focus through.

He held up Heaven Scorcher, from which jumped bolts of lightning, which struck down the dozens of incoming Nevermore Grimm along with a few other Lancer Grimm. He scanned the skies for more enemies and when he was satisfied that they had all been shot down, he deactivated his lightning rod and returned to formation with his team.

"Normally I'd say you should kill wasp Grimm with fire," Leon began, "but lightning works, too. Besides, it's like you literally, ahem, _scorched_ the _heavens_ with your halberd just now."

"One more time," Ingrid said. "Just do it one more time."

"What'll you do to me, huh? Huh?"

"Do it again and you'll find out."

"Oooh, now I'm curious! But I'm not a cat, so it can't kill me—"

He barely ducked out of the way of Shadow Blitz.

"Hey! Watch where you're swinging that long thing of yours!"

Ingrid growled, her whole head the color of Leon's hood. All it took to calm her down was Yuan placing a hand on her shoulder. It was as though his constant tranquility flowed through the physical connection between them and filled her whole being. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Looks like this area's clear," Lilly said, watching as the city guard took control of the situation, driving off or eliminating the last of the attacking Grimm. "Okay, let's head to the main gate and meet up with Athena and her team!"

—

"They're coming from the south," Penny said, looking at a holographic map with Qrow in the Mountain Glen Defense headquarters. "There's gotta be an Omega there. The Grimm are even retreating. Definitely Omega behavior."

"Yeah," Qrow said. "Ready to kick some ass, then, partner?"

"Only if you can keep up with me, buddy!"

The duo dashed out of the command center in the direction of the largest incursion of Grimm, where Teams LILY and APEX bolstered the city's gate defenses. The Grimm's attacks were intermittent and well-organized, clear signs of Omega activity. Penny and Qrow took the time to watch how the two teams interacted. Team APEX was the epitome of unit cohesion, each movement precise and deliberate, perfectly coordinated as if they operated as a single mind. Team LILY still had room to grow, but their dynamic was much different. Unlike Team APEX and their perfect planning, Team LILY seemed to operate on what could only be called organized chaos, fluidly adapting to the situation as needed.

"It's weird, huh?" Penny said.

"What?" Qrow said.

"She's nothing like Weiss. She looks like her, but her spirit is so free compared to her mom's."

"I think she's the girl her mom could have been if it weren't for her stupid family."

"You _really_ don't like the Schnees, do you?"

"It's not all of them. Weiss is okay. Winter is fine now that she's mellowed out. It's that bastard head of the family and his son."

"Yeah, well, that can't really be helped. I'm just glad Weiss was able to break away, even though her dream was to change the family and restore their name."

"In a way, she did."

Penny looked at him.

"She might not be tightly involved with the family anymore, but Weiss is known throughout the world as the Silver Maiden, the one who sealed away Salem and saved all of Remnant."

"Still. I think she could have done with a better reward for all that than getting cast out and living in some tiny house at the edge of some small town in Atlas."

"Think about it, though. Think about what she lost in that war. If anything, these last eighteen years with just her and Lilly in that small house might have been the best therapy for her. After all, Lilly's all she has left of him."

Penny felt a knot form in her throat. That was true in so many ways. Lilly had inherited his eyes and his pure spirit along with that desire to protect every single person in the world. She even inherited his runic magic. If only Weiss knew what Lilly was capable of now, she would be so proud of her little girl.

"I wish I could see all of them again," Penny mumbled.

"Keep your chin up, kiddo," Qrow said. She turned to him. "We'll see them again."

She managed a smile in spite of the knowledge that there was a certain someone from back then they would never see ever again.

"Penny," Qrow said, deploying his scythe. "It's time to channel your frustration at something else."

She turned to the horizon, where Team APEX faced off with two Omegas and a new type of Grimm, one they had never seen before.

"What the hell is that?" Penny said.

"I dunno. C'mon!"

They both dashed toward their new enemy. It appeared beast-like, though it walked on two legs. Talons lined each human-like hand and two ram-like horns decorated the top of its head. Two wings sprouted from its back, though they appeared far too small for flight.

Penny was the first to engage the new monster, slamming into it with her shoulder and knocking it to the ground. In spite of its size, it was incredibly nimble and it somersaulted back onto its feet. Penny stood between the monsters and her pupils. She glanced behind her. Lilly and Athena were at the very front of the formation with Qrow standing just to Athena's left.

"Penny," Qrow said. "That's the first time we've seen anything like that. We don't know what it's capable of."

"I realize that," she said. "Looks like a gargoyle to me."

"Gargoyle Grimm?" Athena said.

"That's what we'll call it for now."

The monstrous creature dashed at Penny, surprising everyone with its speed, but Penny was ready for this. She was ready for anything it had to throw at her. She scanned it quickly. There was nothing special about this Grimm, at least nothing that placed it at a threat level anywhere near that of an Omega. This Gargoyle did not possess an aura and thus had no capacity to use Dust attacks against her. Nevertheless, as Qrow said, they knew nothing about this new enemy and she needed to tread lightly.

The Gargoyle swept at her head and she dodged with ease. It went for other attacks, but basic strikes would not land on the swift Penny. She somersaulted away before leaping up into the air, landing on the monster's shoulder and punching it in the head. Her strikes did not faze it whatsoever and it countered, forcing her to put some distance between them. She glanced to the side. The two Omegas made no moves toward her. Were they watching? Evaluating their new monster, maybe?

Her new opponent's moves were surprisingly fast and she dodged two of its attacks before it landed a kick to her abdomen, sending her soaring through the air before she somersaulted and landed in a crouch.

"Penny!" Lilly shouted.

"Don't worry about me," Penny said into her radio's lapel mic. "Keep an eye on those two Omegas. I think they're here to observe this thing, but who knows what they're actually up to."

"Are you okay?" Leon asked. "That looked like it hurt."

She grinned. "Are you worried about me?"

"W-Well, I mean, I-I just wanna make sure you aren't hurt or anything."

"Oh, god," Athena and Ingrid's voices sounded at the same time.

"You guys don't need to worry about me," Penny said. "I just wanna see what this thing can do before I end it."

She vanished in a cloud of dirt and debris, moving too fast for human sight to keep up with. The Gargoyle Grimm had no problems countering her attack, though, and she engaged it in a high-speed battle of punches, kicks, and claw swipes.

"How is something that big moving so damn fast?" Perseus said. "It's like the toughness of an Ursa combined with the ferocity of a Beowolf."

"That's what I was thinking, too," Athena said.

Echo's senses went into overdrive and she quickly nocked a Lightning Dust arrow into her bowstring, aiming to the left. A horde of Grimm were heading their way and she fired her arrow, stunning six of them in place. Athena followed up with shots from her rifle, downing some of their enemies before transforming it back into a spear and engaging in close range with Perseus and Xanthus. Team LILY kept their eyes peeled for other threats while they waited to support Team APEX.

"Okay," Athena said into her microphone. "Time to rotate out!"

"Roger!" Lilly responded as she led her team to take their place.

"Have fun!" Perseus said as his team returned to the rear line to recuperate.

Meanwhile, Qrow had joined Penny in support against the Gargoyle Grimm. She had miscalculated her approach and the monster had caught her by the throat, but Qrow had arrived just in time to slice off the creature's arm. His attack was unsuccessful, though. The Gargoyle apparently had the intelligence necessary to drop Penny back to the ground in order to save its own limb.

"Most Grimm take years to get this smart," Qrow said. "Unless this thing was created back in the first war and is only coming out now, I don't see how the hell it could possibly be this smart."

"Salem's sealed away, too," Penny said. "Which means her followers are carrying on her will. That doesn't make sense, though. She no longer has leverage over any of them."

"You have to remember, kid. Darkness is inherent in all human hearts. Just as light is. We each have the free will to choose which path to follow. Some unfortunately choose the darker path."

Her face took on a look of ferocity. "I swore to defeat the darkness once and for all," she said, holding both hands out to the sides. "I'm not backing down from that oath! I am a Knight of Remnant!"

Qrow watched as her hands began to glow. Out of her clothing floated microscopic Dust particles, which rapidly coalesced into her signature weapons, two ornate scimitars she called Aequitas et Veritas.

"In my left hand, I hold Justice," Penny said. "In my right, I hold Truth. This shall be your downfall, you vile creature of Grimm!"

The ground beneath her feet exploded backward as she surged at her enemy. The Gargoyle prepared to counter, but the strength behind Penny's attack overwhelmed the monster and it fell to its knees as soon as Penny ended her blitz. In the span of about three seconds, she had delivered close to a hundred slashes at the monster's body. She stood with her back to the monster, confident in her victory.

"Yo," Leon began.

"That," Xanthus said.

"Was awesome," Perseus finished.

Penny turned to face the two Omegas, but they were gone. She scanned the field. They were nowhere to be seen. Even the Grimm horde was now fleeing the area.

"The heck was that all about?" Penny mumbled to herself.

"Have you ever seen them behaving like this?" Qrow said, joining her.

She shook her head.

"I've been fighting these damned things for decades and I've never once seen them do something like this."

"It was like they were testing that new Grimm we fought."

"Yeah. That's what worries me."

"Is everyone all right?" Lilly said, returning to the formation.

"Tired and hungry," Leon said, stretching and yawning.

"Didn't we just come from the mess hall?" Ingrid said.

"Yeah, and I wanna go back."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. She noticed Leon creeping up behind her and dodged his attempt to embrace her from behind.

"Damn it!" Leon said.

"Hah, you suck," Athena laughed.

"Shush!"

"Okay," Qrow said. "We're staying for one more night before we head back to Beacon. Our assignment here is finished. Let's just make sure there aren't any more Grimm hanging out in the mountains."

—

"This is serious," Oscar said, taking a seat at his desk.

"And just as the Vytal Festival is about to happen," Glynda added.

Oscar opened up a communications link with the other headmasters, Hollie Lyon of Haven Academy, Neptune Vasilias of Shade Academy, and James Ironwood.

"I don't understand why you've included me in this conference, Ozpin," Ironwood said. "I am no longer general of Atlas or its academy's headmaster."

"I understand," Oscar said, "but there are reasons I am contacting you instead of Sergei."

"Ozpin, you might not have had a hand in placing General Holland where he is now, but that does not make him any less of a headmaster. You should be including him in this conference, not me."

"I don't think you get it, Mr. Ironwood," Hollie said. "Oscar trusts _you_ , not General Holland. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"That's not the point."

"I get that you're all formal and stuff," Neptune began, "but trust comes from something much deeper than formality. And Professor Ozpin is giving you that trust just as he gives it to myself and to Hollie."

Ironwood said nothing, looking down at his table for a moment before turning back to his camera. "Carry on, then," he said.

Before Oscar could begin the conference, another face appeared on another screen.

"I hope I'm not late!"

"Sun Wukong," Oscar said. "I'm glad you could join us."

"Hi, Sun!" Hollie said.

"Yo, Sun," Neptune said.

"'Sup, everybody," Sun said to the others. He cleared his throat and straightened up. "I mean, good morning Headmaster Vasilias, and Headmaster Lyon, and Headmaster Pine, and General Ironwood, sir—"

"I am no longer a general," Ironwood said.

"Oh. Shit. What do we call you, then?"

"Ironwood is fine."

"All right," Glynda said, standing behind Oscar. "We should probably get this started. I'm sure all the headmasters have busy schedules."

"Is what Qrow indicated in his report true?" Neptune said. "That the recent patrol in Mountain Glen discovered a new type of Grimm?"

"Yes," Oscar said. "The most alarming part of the news is not the capabilities of that Grimm, however. Penny was able to dispatch it with ease. It's the behavior of the Omegas that bothers me."

"I was gonna mention that," Hollie said. "It's almost like they were observing the new...Gargoyle Grimm?"

"That's what Penny and Qrow are calling it for now. We sent out scouts after them to see what they were after, but their retreat was covered by a significant number of Grimm and they escaped."

"Do you think it's going to interfere with the upcoming festival?" Hollie said. "I mean, the one eighteen years ago was marred by all the crap that Cinder and her team pulled."

"We still don't have any idea what our enemy is planning this time," Oscar said. "Unlike before, they are like vapor, decentralized and disorganized and yet they function as though they are one."

"That's the worst enemy of all," Ironwood said. "They may have a clear goal in mind, but because of the way they operate, it is impossible for us to follow their trail."

"More like there are fifty trails to follow," Neptune said. "What would you have us do, Professor Ozpin?"

"For now, continue to monitor activity within your borders," Oscar said. "If anything comes up regarding the Omega or if any new Grimm appear, bring it to the Coalition immediately."

"Are we actually going to revive the Coalition?" Hollie said. "It's been defunct for years now, what with Salem all sealed up and stuff."

"Let us hope that won't be necessary."

"All right," Neptune said. "We'll talk again next time. Oh, by the way, Sun."

"What's up, buddy?" Sun said.

"I appreciate that you got me this job because it keeps me far away from the water, but dude, did you really have to get me stuck in the middle of a desert?"

Sun laughed. "Hey, you know you enjoy the lawlessness of Vacuo."

"Yeah, yeah. I owe both you and Oscar anyway."

"If there is nothing else that needs to be discussed," Oscar began, "we will reconvene in a month's time."

There were no objections.

"Very well, then. I wish you all a good rest of your day."

Only Ironwood's face remained on the screen.

"Is something the matter?" Oscar asked him.

"Not necessarily," he said.

"James, if there is something on your mind, please, do share it. It's only Glynda and me here."

"It's just the new regime controlling Atlas now."

"The one under General Holland?"

"I know I could be bullheaded at times, borderline paranoid more often than not, but this man, he's...I don't know. He's an incredibly strong leader, charismatic, too, but..."

"He strikes you as too extreme."

"And very nationalistic. It's as though the war nearly a century ago never happened. Or that the Labyrinth War didn't bring humankind to the brink of ruin."

"He has strong beliefs."

"And he's also very good friends with Jacques."

"You were good friends with him, too, if I recall."

"I wouldn't call us friends. Sergei, on the other hand, has granted Jacques a seat on the council."

Oscar rested his elbows on his desk, folding his hands under his chin. "I see."

"Things are starting to heat up."

"You don't actually believe that a war with Vacuo is imminent, do you?"

"Not imminent, but it's simmering. Ozpin, you haven't seen what I've seen. I no longer sit on the Atlas Council and neither am I included in their behind-closed-doors dealings. I am nothing more than a retired commander and advisor to General Holland, who ignores all of my advice."

"I will try and get in touch with President Jupiter. Perhaps he can enlighten me on the situation between Vacuo and Atlas."

Ironwood lifted up a mug. "Here's hoping we can make it to twenty years without a shot fired between our countries."

Oscar lifted his own mug and drank with him. Ironwood broke off the connection from his end. He sat back against his chair, closing his eyes.


	21. Chapter XXI

CHAPTER XXI

 _As the Sun Sets_

Lilly opened her eyes to bright sunlight shining in from the window. She stretched and yawned, staring at the ceiling for a few moments before looking to her right. Leon was still asleep, but Yuan's bunk was empty. She reached over to pick up a notebook and pencil and began sketching. She usually wasn't much of an artist, at least not as good of an artist as Echo, but she wasn't bad. Today was an exception, though. The portrait she drew was of a quality that she had never been capable of. When she was satisfied with the drawing, she smiled at the face on the page, trying to figure out whose it was. It had come to her in a dream last night, though she had no idea who it belonged to. All she knew was that just staring at it right now brought elation to her heart.

She shut her notebook, clutching it to her chest for a moment before returning it to its place. She yawned again, rolling over and falling off her bed all the way to the ground.

"I really need to stop doing that," she said, still lying on the carpet. She blew her hair out of her face, but it fell right back down. She rolled over, rubbing her forehead to try and relieve the soreness from her fall. Ingrid was peeking over her bed at her.

"We need to switch places," Ingrid said. "That's, what, eleven times you've fallen now?"

"I never had this problem back home!" Lilly whined.

Leon yawned as he swung his legs over his bed and let them dangle over the edge. He raised an eyebrow. "Is the floor more comfortable than your bunk?"

"Not funny," Lilly said, stealing one of Ingrid's pillows and smothering herself with it.

"Hey!" Ingrid said. "Get your own pillow!" She reached up to Lilly's bunk and took one of hers, switching them out.

"Good morning," Yuan said as he walked into the room. "I hope you're all hungry."

"Pancakes!" Lilly said, springing up from the floor and stealing a piece of bacon from the platter.

"Man, the bacon's perfect," Leon said, also swiping one. "Yuan Ren, master chef of Bacon Academy."

Lilly gave him a high-five and Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"Oh, is that sushi?" their resident cat Faunus said, eyeing the other platter Yuan was setting down on a table.

"It is," he said. "I know your favorite is yellowtail, so I picked out the best I could find."

She smiled to herself as she joined the rest of the team at the small table. Unlike in the dining hall, where they could easily spread out, this tiny surface forced them to sit much more closely together and she found herself shoulder to shoulder with Lilly and Yuan. She noticed Lilly out of the corner of her eye, reaching for one of her sushi rolls. She was quick to smack her hand and the latter retracted it, squealing. Leon's hand was next to receive a smack.

"Why you so stingy?" he complained.

"Because Yuan made them for _me_ okay?" she said. "Go get your own master chef to make you sushi!"

Lilly giggled, watching as Ingrid constantly stole glances at Yuan. She elbowed Leon every time she noticed it happen and he shared in her glee.

"What are you two snickering about?" Ingrid snarled, her face red.

"Muffin!" Lilly and Leon yelled at the same time. "Jinx!"

"Jinx!" Lilly said. "Hah! I won that time!"

"Psh," Leon scoffed. "Whatever."

"You owe me a coffee!"

Ingrid helped Yuan with the plates and platters when they finished up with breakfast. Leon nudged Lilly as the two walked out of the room and she giggled.

"C'mon!" she whispered, peeking past the doorway.

Leon snickered with her as the other two walked down the hall, chatting and laughing together. It wasn't until they disappeared around the corner that Lilly realized Leon was pressed up against her back. She reddened before slipping out from between him and the wall, skipping to the window and opening it to let some fresh air in.

"Ah," she said, closing her eyes as she breathed in the spring wind. "Oh! The weather's nice today!"

Leon smiled as he leaned against the doorway. As far as he was concerned, the weather was always nice wherever she was around.

"Hey! Quit staring at Lilly!"

The sound of Athena's sudden voice made him fall to the ground.

"What is your problem?" he demanded. He looked past his sister. Echo was giggling while Perseus and Xanthus fought to contain their laughter.

"Hey, why are you on the floor?" Lilly asked, looking at her teammate.

"Just checking to see if it was really that comfortable," he chuckled.

She threw her fists on her hips. "That's not funny!"

He got up and flicked his sister on the forehead.

"Hey!" Athena said, smacking him on the shoulder.

"That's what you get."

"Echo."

Without any other instructions to go by, Echo already knew her partner's intentions. She threw a pillow in Athena's direction and the latter whacked Leon with it as hard as he could.

"Okay, you're gonna die," Leon said before grabbing two pillows and nailing her right in the face with both. "Lilly!"

His team leader was quick to arm herself as well with two pillows, but by now it was a four-on-one match and Leon and Lilly were forced to make a break for it with Team APEX in hot pursuit.

"What the hell is going on?" Ingrid said as she and Yuan stopped at the other end of the hall.

"Get in the fight!" Leon said, throwing a pillow to Yuan as Lilly threw one of hers to Ingrid. Both caught their pillows midair, watching as Lilly and Leon darted past them.

Ingrid turned to Team APEX, barely ducking just in time to dodge Athena's swing. She somersaulted backwards, blocking a strike from Perseus and standing beside Yuan, who had just ended a short scuffle with Xanthus.

"Still two against four, huh?" Athena said with a grin as they faced off in the hall. "Team APEX!"

"Hooah!" the others responded.

"Uh-oh," Yuan said, grabbing Ingrid by the hand and dragging her down the hall to regroup with Leon and Lilly, who had run into the bottom floor's common room, which, fortunately, was completely empty, although even if it had been occupied, it was nevertheless about to turn into a battleground.

Along the way, both teams had managed to procure even more pillows from numerous sources. The quartets eventually faced off in the center of the common room, each member armed with a pillow in either hand and two pillows at their feet, waiting to be used as projectile weapons.

"Ready, team?" Lilly said, a grin plastered on her face.

"We're not going down that easily!" Leon said.

"We'll see who is truly the best in all of Beacon!" Athena said. "Team APEX—"

Her battle cry was cut short by a pillow flying right in her face. Her team stared at her in shock as she recovered. She growled, both fists gripping her pillows so tightly as to force all of the stuffing to one side.

" _Kill_ _them_!" she screamed.

Both teams let out battle cries as they began their crusade, swinging and throwing pillows with ferocity otherwise reserved for war. Yuan's opponent was Xanthus, who was the most adept with wielding two weapons at once. Athena faced off against Lilly while Ingrid's opponent was the other team's stealthy archer, Echo, who relied on hurling pillows at the cat Faunus instead of engaging her in close range.

"So," Perseus said, facing off with Leon. Both rested pillows on their shoulders. "A knight versus the son of a knight."

"I didn't know your dad was a knight," Leon said with a smug grin.

Perseus smirked before holding one pillow up like a shield. "Let's do this!"

The pillow melee was intense. Each one stuck to their designated opponents, occasionally helping a partner out with an opportunistic throw of a pillow, but for the most part it was a stalemate. Even Lilly was able to hold her own against the especially skilled Athena, who was an expert with not only melee tactics, but also ranged fighting. More than once did Lilly have to dodge incoming pillows. The good thing was that her ferromagnetic Semblance didn't work on cloth.

"Haaa-yah!" Lilly cried, leaping up in the air before attacking downward with both pillows at once. Athena blocked her strike with a pillow she used as a shield before countering with her other pillow, which Lilly successfully deflected before they engaged in another scuffle.

"You're strengthening your pillow with your aura," Xanthus said, rubbing his chin. "That hurt."

"It's not like you can't do it," Yuan said. "We all do it with our weapons."

"True, but no one has as much control over it as you do."

Yuan shrugged before continuing on the offensive.

"Sit still!" Ingrid said, chasing after Echo, who consistently tossed pillows while maintaining a safe distance. Ingrid also resorted to throwing her pillows, but that caused their fight to shift. Both would catch the other's projectile and return it with equal force.

Eventually, Echo managed to land a clean hit right on Ingrid's head, knocking her back, but the reprieve was short as Lilly gave her partner support fire, the force of her pillow toss knocking Echo to the ground. That moment was just the opening Athena needed to whack Lilly in the back of the head, sending her flying. Leon was quick to avenge his team leader, though, and he tripped his sister to the ground before slamming a pillow right into her face.

Perseus wasn't one to permit anyone to take Athena down and he flew at Leon, using his pillow as a makeshift ram and knocking him to the carpet. Yuan was hot on his tail, though, and Perseus ultimately found himself with his feet in the air as Yuan swept them out from under him. He turned quickly to counter Xanthus, but both were equally skilled and each one's attack landed on the other perfectly and they ended up knocking each other down to the ground at the same time.

"Oh, my god," Penny said, walking into the common room. "I thought there was a battle going on in here with all that noise!"

Lilly laughed as she turned to face the ceiling. "There was!" she said as Penny entered her view. "And you missed out!"

"I'll get all of you guys next time. Both Teams APEX and LILY against a professional Huntress."

"I mean," Perseus said, rolling onto his elbows, "that would be awesome, but I've seen what you do to Omega Grimm and I value my life, thanks."

"Pussy," Ingrid grunted, sitting up and fixing her hair.

"That's gold, coming from you," Leon laughed.

She glared at him.

—

The group, including Penny, enjoyed coffee together as they sat on a lawn in the quad close to the knight statue. Leon had brought out his guitar and plucked away softly as conversation went around the circle. Lilly was chatting away with Echo, Athena, and Penny, while Yuan and Ingrid paired off, facing away from the group as they talked. Perseus and Xanthus stood around, discussing the upcoming Vytal Festival Tournament.

As Leon quietly played on his strings, he constantly stole glances over at the girls. Ingrid sported a dark blue tank top over black jeans and sandals while Penny rocked a green off-the-shoulder top that fluttered in the wind over a skirt and tights and her signature combat boots. Lilly was in a pale blue spring dress and barefoot, low-top shoes tossed over to the side. Her hair was let down today, but she still wore a white bow in her hair, separating a snow white lock to the left of her face. She caught a glimpse of him and smiled. He couldn't help but return that smile.

"Hey!" Lilly said to Athena. "I remember your friend back at Winter Formal mentioned that you used to be your group's lead singer back when you used to do gigs at Signal!"

"Yeah, that's right," Athena chuckled.

"Sing for us!"

She looked over at Leon, who shrugged.

"What do you want me to sing?" Athena said.

"I dunno," Lilly said. "Something from the Lyon's Pride album!"

She sat in thought for a moment before signaling to Leon. Neither had to say anything aloud to the other. They were thinking about the exact same song right now, one that they hadn't played in a long time. It was their mom's favorite, but they had learned to adopt it for themselves, turning it into a vow that they would sing not only to each other, but to everyone they cared about.

The whole group gathered closer together with Leon and Athena sitting across from each other, boys seated near the guitarist and girls near the vocalist. Leon began to pluck softly. It was a slow song, melancholic, but somewhat hopeful. Athena's lyrics matched the tune with perfect harmony.

 _Long ago, before we met_

 _I dreamed about you_

 _The peace you'd bring_

 _The songs we'd sing_

 _The way you'd make things new_

 _Then, one day, you arrived_

 _I heard your angel cry_

 _Helpless, small, and perfect_

 _Welcome to your life_

 _And on that day, I made a vow_

 _Whispered and true_

 _No matter what, no matter how_

 _I made this promise to you_

 _I will cling, I will clutch_

 _I'll hold on to you, I won't turn away_

 _I won't leave, I won't go_

 _I will stay with you, all our days._

Lilly looked down at the grass, playing with it between her toes. This song brought so many emotions to her heart. It was the same song her mother had sung to her when she was younger. This was the song that put her to sleep every night for the first decade of her life. Even now, just hearing the song brought her so much comfort. All she could think about now was home and her mom. She found herself quietly harmonizing with Athena.

 _Years of joy have passed since then_

 _With time I've seen you grow_

 _Watched you play, new each day_

 _I begged the time to slow_

 _And though I miss the little girl_

 _You've made me awful proud_

 _Funny how our lives change_

 _'Cause you're my hero now_

 _But things in life will rearrange_

 _Friends come and go_

 _Don't ever doubt, don't ever fear_

 _I'm always here and you know_

 _I will cling, I will clutch_

 _I'll hold on to you, I won't turn away_

 _I won't leave, I won't go_

 _I will stay with you, all our days._

The entire group was silent as Leon finished off the last plucks of his guitar strings. There were a few minutes of wordless reflection among them, each one reliving their childhoods. Lilly was the first to stir among them, standing up with a heavy sigh and walking toward the manmade pond to stare at the knight statue.

"It's gonna come up eventually," Perseus said quietly, playing with a rock he had found.

The others looked over at him.

"You talking about her parents?" Leon said.

"You're her partner, Ingrid," Perseus said. "Does she ever talk about her dad?"

She shook her head. "I don't think we should pry, though," she said.

"Me neither. It's just...I dunno. I mean, my family isn't the best out there. They mostly suck. But I couldn't imagine having grown up missing either my mom or my dad."

"Same," Leon said. "Both our parents were pretty much vital."

"That wasn't a pun again, was it?" Ingrid said.

"It is now!"

"Oh, god, that was entirely my fault."

"I know Ingrid wouldn't be the same without both her parents, too," Athena said.

"Me neither," Xanthus said. "Especially not without my father. It was his smithing experiment that awakened my Semblance, after all."

Yuan thought of his own parents. Both his mother and father were integral to his upbringing. He couldn't even imagine life without the calm guidance of his father or the energetic push from his mother. The man he was today was because of both his parents. Echo, too, could not imagine life without both her mother and father around to teach her about the world and warn her of the Grimm and the dangers they posed. Her parents' loving treatment of one another was key to her own views of partnership.

Of the group, Penny was the only one without any real parents, but all she could think about now was him and how she had left him behind. She sighed, hiding her face behind her knees. The way she had left Mistral and the forge was so stupid. She wished she hadn't yelled at him like that. But what was she to do? It's not as if she could just suppress all of the emotions. She wasn't the same girl she was eighteen years ago. She had incredibly complex feelings that she still didn't know what to do with. Add to that the frustration from everyone in the room at the time and she had to get away. If only she could control this Semblance of hers. Just like that girl can.

She shook her head. Why was she feeling like this? Still, the least she could have done was place one stupid call to him. Even a text message. No, she couldn't even do that.

"I wonder what happened to her dad, though," Perseus said before looking over at Lilly. "Lilly?"

The others looked in the same direction.

"Where'd she go?" Leon said, standing up.

Penny shot up to her feet, scanning the horizon.

"It's not as if she could've just gotten away like that," Xanthus said. "We all would have noticed her running."

The group headed off to the edge of the pool. She was nowhere in sight.

"Lilly!" Athena called out.

"I'll try her scroll," Ingrid said. After a few seconds, she looked at the group. "Uh, her number is out of service?"

"The tower is _right there_!" Leon said, pointing at the CCTS tower. "How the hell can she not have service?"

"Leon, calm down," Yuan said. "Let's split up and look for her."

"She's probably just getting more coffee," Perseus said, pairing off with Xanthus.

—

Lilly smiled as she looked at the statue, admiring the gallantry with which it stood. Knowing its significance now gave it far more meaning to her than before. It wasn't just some faceless knight anymore. This sculpture was the physical representation of the man who was known as the hero of the Labyrinth War, Sir Bedivere of Kameloth. She wondered what kind of man he was, what he looked like. He must have been handsome and probably as big as this statue to have been able to single-handedly turn the tide of the war.

She aspired to be the kind of person this knight was, a person who did everything he could for everyone around him, even to the point of sacrificing himself to save the world. She wouldn't hesitate to do the same for the people she loved. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the spring air before turning back to her group, but when she looked, they were nowhere to be found.

She ran to the lawn and looked around. It wasn't only her friends that were missing. The entire campus was devoid of life. The singing of the birds had ceased. The buzz of insects was gone. She looked in every direction. Not a single soul in sight.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "You've been through this before, Lilly. Just stay calm and the hallucination will end after a few minutes."

She took a seat on the grass, pulling her knees up and resting her chin atop them. She kept her eyes peeled. Her other hallucinations would include creepy looking things, but they never seemed to try and harm her. Nevertheless, she could not let her guard down.

A half hour came and went and she was still in an empty world. Anxiety was starting to set in by now, but she would not let it escalate into panic. She remembered all of her training with Penny and her friends. Panic only served to make any situation worse. She needed to maintain a cool head and figure out what was going on.

The first thing she needed to do was retrieve her weapon. She pulled out her scroll to activate the weapon delivery system, but there was no signal, even though the CCTS Tower was right next to her.

"What's going on?" she thought.

She was about to head to the armory when something peculiar happened. The sun was high above, but right before her eyes, the sky began to darken until day became night. She looked all around. Beacon Academy's lights were operational, yet there were still no people to be seen. Whatever happened next, she needed to arm herself.

She crept around campus, pressing up against walls to keep out of view. Though there were no threats to be seen, she needed to stay hidden in order to keep from attracting unwanted attention. She took cues from both of her stealthy friends, Ingrid and Echo. She stuck to shadows, stayed away from the walkway lamps, and treaded lightly to minimize the noise her footsteps made. She wasn't anywhere near as silent as her two ninja-like friends, but this was the best she could do.

There was a noise down a path between the class buildings. She peeked around the edge of her cover, spying on...something.

 _What is that?_

The thing she was staring at might have been human, had it not been for clearly inhuman features and a tormented gait. It seemed to gasp with every breath, twitching from time to time. Was it in pain? Either way, she had to get to Myrtenaster just in case. She could not know if this thing was an enemy or otherwise and having no weapon at her disposal was simply stupid.

She slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the combat training building, where the armory was located. She stood still for a few moments, listening for any out-of-place noises. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she proceeded down the hall in the direction of the armory. There were no threats or obstructions along the way, but something about the armory was strange. Nothing else was out of the ordinary save for the fact that her locker was the only one which had anything in it. All of the other weapon lockers were open and empty.

There was no time to continue pondering the situation. She went straight to her locker and tried the control panel. There was no response, but she could see through the thick glass window that Myrtenaster was right inside. She looked around for something with which to pry the door. She ran into a maintenance closet and found a crowbar. This should suffice, although she wondered if she had the muscle strength necessary to wrench the locker open.

"It's worth a shot," she said to herself as she jogged to her locker and wedged the crowbar between two plates of steel. No matter which way she went, though, her efforts didn't even scratch the thing. "Come on, come _on_!"

Her locker popped open and she fell to the ground with the might of her exertion. Her eyes were wide open as she looked up at Myrtenaster. She didn't realize she had the strength to force it open, but she did it. There was something strange, though. She could swear that she had just received an explosive burst of power before the door opened. She looked at her hands. It was already fading away, but it seemed as though they were glowing with a brownish light. She shook her head, blinking a number of times. The light was gone.

"More hallucinations," she said before getting up and pulling Myrtenaster out of her locker. She looked over the weapon for a bit, remembering her mother. She grabbed everything else she needed from her locker, including her belt and pouches loaded with Dust, equipping everything over her dress.

She passed by a mirror on her way out of the armory, stopping to look at herself. With her mother's sword at her side, she may as well have been her twin. Aside from the way she wore her hair nowadays and her light brownish, hazel eyes, she looked just like her mom. She took the white bow out of her hair before tying it all back to keep it out of her face in case she needed to go into battle.

 _I hope I can fight like her, too,_ she thought before heading out of the armory. What she failed to notice was that her reflection did not follow her, instead watching as she left.

There was a scream down the hall and her heart stopped. As if by instinct, Lilly dashed in the direction of the distress. There was a scream again. She threw open a door to one of the classrooms and spotted a young girl cornered by what she originally thought was a Grimm, one she'd never seen before.

"Hey!" Lilly yelled before launching a Fire Dust attack at the creature, throwing it to the side. She ran over to the girl. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head.

"Don't worry. Just stay behind me. I'll keep you safe." She stood up and faced the monster, which was getting back up to its feet. It turned to her and roared, a cry unlike anything she'd ever heard before. The girl slammed her palms to her ears to shut out the grotesque roar, which sounded similar to a human cry of pain with overtones of monstrous growling.

This creature wasn't anything like Lilly had ever encountered. As far as she knew, the textbooks didn't even cover this thing. Upon further inspection, it became clear that this was no creature of Grimm. It was something else entirely.

"Stay away!" Lilly said, holding Myrtenaster up, ready to battle.

The monster roared at her again before lunging to attack. Lilly countered with a blast of Earth Dust, hurling it to the side before stabbing it. Her attack had little effect and she backed away. It was bleeding. Grimm did not bleed.

"What the heck are you?" she said.

The monster let out a growl that sounded too much like it was gurgling on its own blood. Its cheeks began to puff up and Lilly rolled to the side just in time to dodge a spray of something that corroded the desk she was standing in front of.

"Holy crap," she said. She attacked with Lightning Dust before taking the girl by the hand and getting her out of the classroom as quickly as she could. She barred the door with a nearby metal mop, backing away as the creature began banging from the other side.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked the girl.

Her charge shook her head.

"Okay. I'm gonna get you out of here. You stay close to me, all right?"

She nodded.

—

"Another missing persons case, you say?" Oscar said as Qrow gave his report.

"Yeah," Qrow said. "You think it's happening again?"

"I was hoping that wasn't the situation, but if the cases are increasing in frequency, then it's possible."

He sighed. "The Grimm, we can fight. Terrorists, we can fight. Hell, _Salem_ , we can fight. But _this_? Where the hell is Weiss when we need her?"

"Taking a well-deserved rest," a familiar voice came from Oscar's monitor. They both turned to the face. It was Winter Schnee.

"Winter," Oscar said.

"You wanted me to report straight to you should anything come up regarding...that thing. And just as missing persons have increased in Vale, the same has been happening here in Atlas. If you contact the other headmasters, they'll probably report the same thing, although if they haven't reported it to you by now, they may not be keeping track of the numbers. After all, Vacuo isn't exactly well-known for keeping up with the census and Mistral is so trade-heavy that people going missing for months is not out of the ordinary."

"Atlas, too, huh?" Qrow said.

He and Winter gave each other brief looks before she continued her report. "Unexplained disappearances. That's how the police report them."

"Then, we have to assume that it has returned," Oscar said. "This isn't good."

"Yeah," Qrow said. "We have literally no counter to it."

The roof access door burst open and Qrow and Oscar turned to see Penny running into the office.

"Penny," Oscar said. "What is the matter?"

"And was the elevator too slow for you?" Qrow said.

"Lilly's disappeared," Penny panted.

"Disappeared?" Winter said, standing up. "What do you mean?"

"Hi, Winter," Penny said into the monitor before addressing the whole group. "Lilly was with us not thirty minutes ago. She was literally only feet away. When we looked back to her, she was gone."

"She didn't just wander off?" Qrow said.

"I calculated the time it would take her to leave the area and in the span it took for us to realize she was gone, she could not have gotten anywhere that would completely conceal her presence. She's gone."

"You don't think..." Winter trailed off.

"We can't jump to conclusions," Oscar said.

"But if it's really happening again," Penny said.

"We'll just have to trust in her ability to fight through it," Qrow said. "Don't forget who her parents are."

"Yeah, but!"

"Qrow is right," Winter said. "We have to trust that my sister's daughter has what it takes to survive."

"Even _if_ she can survive that nightmare, how the hell is she going to return to the real world?"

That was a question that there was no answer for. No one knew how that other reality worked, not even the progenitor of the phenomenon to begin with. The thing they did know was that it took the power of legendary ancient artifacts which had the capacity to alter the very fabric of reality itself. They no longer had access to such things.

Penny clenched her fists. Though both Qrow and Oscar were calm on the outside, her empathy Semblance allowed her to feel the burgeoning anxiety from the both of them, which only added to her own apprehension.

If these were Grimm they were dealing with, she'd go out and crush them with one arm tied behind her back and save Weiss's daughter. But right now, they were all powerless. That bothered Penny more than anything.


	22. Chapter XXII

CHAPTER XXII

 _The Light which Shines into the Dark_

"Leon, would you quit pacing?" Athena yelled.

"What the hell do you want me to do?" Leon yelled back.

"Okay, first of all," Ingrid began, "we are _not_ going to do this. We are not gonna go bouncing off the fucking walls and end up right where we started!"

"Let's think through this calmly," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Penny wants us to wait right here. If she disappeared from this spot, this is exactly where she might reappear."

"Reappear?" Perseus said. "First of all, people don't just _disappear_."

"I don't know about that," Echo said. "Some of the stories I've heard about the first war, well, apparently, during the Defense of Mistral, there were a lot of people who just...disappeared. They weren't taken by the Grimm or anything. They were just gone. And these were people in places that were locked from the _inside_."

"Come to think of it," Yuan began, "haven't there been quite a few missing persons cases recently?"

"That was one of the jobs we were sent on, wasn't it?" Ingrid said.

"Yes," Xanthus said. "The one in Forever Fall last month. We never found them, but there were no remains either. And no sign of Grimm activity."

"You think what happened to those people happened to Lilly?" Athena said.

"It's hard to say. We don't even know what happened."

Leon balled his fists. If only he had been watching her more closely. If only he wasn't fooling around, she'd still be here with them.

"Leon," Ingrid said, putting a gentle hand to his shoulder.

"No," he grunted. "This is my fault."

"You're not gonna get started with that shit," Athena said. "This is nobody's fault."

"If only I—"

"Hey!" she yelled into his face. "Get a fucking grip!"

He stared into his sister's intense blue eyes for a moment before looking away and taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Much better," Athena said.

He stood at the edge of the pool, looking over at the knight statue. He wondered what that knight would do if he were in the same position.

—

Lilly held the girl's hand tightly as she led her to the outside, but the sun was still gone and the world was pitch black and empty. At least there were no monsters around. Still, whatever was happening to the world couldn't be good.

"My..."

Lilly turned to the girl.

"My mommy..."

"Huh? Where's your mommy?"

The girl pointed to the library.

"Is your mommy a teacher here?"

She shook her head.

"A...student?"

She nodded.

Lilly was dumbstruck. Her mother had to be quite young if she was still a student here. Then again, young mothers weren't exactly uncommon. After all, her own mother wasn't even in her twenties when she gave birth to her. Leon and Athena's mom was even younger than that. Although, of course, theirs was a special case.

"She's...trapped," the girl said.

"Trapped?" Lilly said. "Is someone holding her against her will?"

"I don't know. She's...in a cage...I think."

Lilly looked around for somewhere safe to leave the girl, but she couldn't possibly know where was safe in this new world. Naturally, the thought came to her that this world might not be real at all, that it was nothing more than a giant hallucination. But she had to assume that it was all real. If it turned out to be a giant delusion, the only thing that would happen is that she wasted time and energy. But if it was all real and she did nothing, real people would suffer. She went with the safer option, to help out this little girl, even if she happened to be an illusion.

"Please take me with you!" the girl cried, gripping her sleeve.

Lilly looked at her before smiling. "How old are you?"

"E...Eight."

"Can you fight?"

She shook her head. "Mommy never taught me how to fight."

"Stay behind me, then."

Lilly hoped that this girl's mother was an upperclassman. At least then she wouldn't have been so young to have had a child.

"Do you have a picture of your mommy?" Lilly asked.

The girl nodded before pulling out a small locket, which had a picture of her mother and her in it. She had seen this student before. She was a fourth-year student, maybe.

"Mizuki?" Lilly guessed. "Is that your mom's name?"

The girl nodded. Lilly was right. She had seen her before.

"What's your name?"

"Ami."

"Okay, Ami. Stick close to me, all right?"

She nodded, following Lilly to the library. There was a single monster guarding the entrance. She pondered circumventing the creature, but decided to attack head on.

"Stay hidden, okay?" Lilly whispered. "I'll come get you when that monster's a goner."

Ami nodded.

"That's a good girl. Here, keep this close to you just in case." Lilly took off her silver lily pin and put it in the girl's hand. "This is so you'll know I'll come back to you."

"A lily?"

Lilly nodded with a smile.

"Is...is that your name?"

"It sure is. Now, stay quiet and stay behind these bushes. Can you do that for me?"

She nodded.

"Good girl."

Lilly emerged from their hiding place and crept across the walkway, staying within the shadows to attack the monster from a different angle so as to keep its attention away from Ami. She stalked the creature for a bit, memorizing its tendencies. When its back was to her, she snuck out from behind cover and switched Myrtenaster to Lightning Dust and zapped the monster, stunning it before swinging her weapon at its neck and severing its head. The creature fell to the ground with a thud. She was certain now that this was no Grimm. It did not disintegrate and its blood was red.

"What are these things?" she said to herself, examining the flesh and blood monster. Like the one in the classroom, it was human-like in appearance, but with monstrous protrusions and beast-like claws and fangs. She looked at the head for a bit before its eyes opened and stared right at her. She jumped back, startled by the sudden movement. She returned the head's gaze before going back to the girl.

"Okay, it's safe to come out," Lilly said, upon which the girl followed her.

They snuck into the library, which was considerably different from the world outside. Everywhere else appeared normal, just devoid of life, but inside the library, the environment was grotesque. The walls and floor were decrepit, mold and grime covering much of the masonry.

 _What's going on here?_ she thought. _Why is this place so different from the outside?_

"Mommy," Ami said.

"Do you know where she is?"

She nodded.

"Okay, lead the way. I'll be right behind you."

The two girls headed down hallway after hallway, dodging two monsters along the path. The little girl wasn't clumsy at all. She was skilled enough to not attract any of the creatures' attention. Lilly couldn't help but smile to herself. She was an only child, but maybe this is what it felt like to have a sibling. Athena was only two minutes older than Leon, but they must have had a similar relationship.

Then again, Lilly doubted that any of their childhoods involved running through dilapidated buildings and fighting monsters trying to figure out a way to get out of whatever world this was.

"Over here," Ami said, peeking through a door window into one of the library's study halls.

Lilly peeked in as well. The sight shocked her and she would have fallen had she not steeled herself for whatever this place had to throw at her. Although, there was no way to prepare herself for what she now beheld. The entire study hall was overtaken by what could only be described as something organic. The walls, floor, and ceiling had been transformed into flesh, or something akin to it. She spotted Mizuki, Ami's mother, hooked up to something that looked like wires. No, they weren't wires. They were veins.

"What's happening to my mom?" Ami said, her voice quavering.

"I don't know," Lilly said, holding her close. "But we'll get your mommy out of here, okay?"

The girl nodded.

"We're going in there, but stay close to me. I'd rather not take you into a place like that, but I don't want to leave you out here either."

"I-It's okay. I'm not afraid. Mommy always told me to be brave whenever she wasn't around."

Lilly was instantly reminded of her own mother. It was odd for the two of them to have such parallels. Or perhaps it was fate that brought them together. Lilly was resolved to save her fellow Beacon student now. This girl was not going to be left without a mother. From the way she spoke, Lilly concluded that she might not have a father either. All the more reason Lilly had to do this.

"Let's go save your mom!" Lilly said.

Ami nodded with a smile, tightly clutching onto the lily pin.

Lilly burst into the study hall, almost losing her balance as she ran across the soft, warm ground. She made a face as the flesh squished beneath her feet.

"This is gross," she said.

"Yeah," Ami said. "And it smells awful."

"Ugh, I know."

They ran to Mizuki, who was unconscious and unresponsive.

"Mizuki!" Lilly said, trying to shake her awake. "Mizuki, it's Lilly Schnee!"

The fourth-year student opened her eyes, but they had a faraway look in them.

"Your kid is here, too, Mizuki! We're here to get you out!"

"I deserve to be here," she said, her voice hollow.

"What?"

"It's my fault. My fault that he died."

Ami gasped. "No! It's not your fault, mama! He died protecting us!"

Lilly turned to the girl and then back to Mizuki. Her eyes began to well up. What was happening here?

"Papa wouldn't want you to stay sad over him!" Ami continued. "He said to be strong! So be, strong, mama! I'm trying to be strong, too!" She began to sniffle. "Mama, please!"

"Mizuki, snap out of it!" Lilly said, her eyes flooded. "Your daughter needs you!"

Neither of their words got through. Mizuki's despair was profound and eternal. There was no rescuing her from this hell. But Lilly was unwilling to accept that. She would fight, even if the battle was a fruitless one.

"This is what I deserve," Mizuki said as the ground began to rumble beneath them. "This is where I belong. Forever."

"No!" Lilly yelled. The rumbling intensified and Lilly put herself between Ami and whatever was coming next. A massive arm shot up through the ground between them and Mizuki, throwing blood and gore all over the place. Lilly gawked as something attempted to free itself from beneath the floors. This was no longer safe for the little girl. She needed to get out of here, and quickly.

"Wait!" Ami yelled as Lilly picked her up off the ground as she fled. "Mommy!"

"I'll come back for your mom after I get you to safety," Lilly said before glancing back at a despondent Mizuki. "Do you hear me? I'm coming back to save you!"

Lilly ran with Ami in her arm, dodging monster after monster. They had increased in number somehow and it was getting difficult to get by without engaging any of them in combat, but with an innocent bystander involved, she needed to focus on evasion and not battle.

 _Must keep going_ , she thought, panting. _Must keep moving forward!_

She burst through the library doors. The entire courtyard was filled with monsters. This density was insane. There was no way to escape all of these creatures. She ran in the opposite direction, toward the front of the school, where the number of monsters was much lower. Some of the creatures were alien in appearance, completely unlike anything Remnant harbored. There was one creature which floated above the earth, hovering by some unknown mechanism. Beneath its gel-like body was a mass of tentacles that it used to feel its environment.

Another creature had five legs, each "knee" with a bundle of eyes that looked in all directions. Underneath its body, at the center of the five appendages, was a gaping maw with rows upon rows of human teeth.

 _What in the world are these things?_ Lilly thought.

She kept running and running, ignoring the burning in her legs, the fatigue in her lungs. Without warning, the night sky transformed into day and she slowed to a halt. She and Ami looked around. There were birds chirping again, insects buzzing, squirrels running around the grass. They looked to the bustling campus. They had managed to run all the way to the field to the north of the main hall, the undeveloped part of campus.

"What...happened?" Ami said.

Lilly couldn't believe what she was seeing. The fact that Ami was still with her and had witnessed all of that as well told her that that was no hallucination. Whatever it was she had just gone through, it was real.

"Mommy!" Ami yelled, running back in the direction of the library.

"Ami!" Lilly cried out, chasing after her. "Wait! Don't go by yourself!"

She followed her tiny companion all the way to the study hall where her mother was sitting. Everything was normal, including Mizuki, who was as melancholy as Lilly remembered her always being.

"Mama!" Ami said, hugging her mother's leg.

"Oh, Ami," Mizuki said. "What's going on?" She looked over to Lilly. "Lilly, why are you panting?"

"Oh, you know," Lilly said, scratching her head. "Just playing with Ami, that's all."

"Huh? I don't remember ever introducing you two."

"Y-You don't? I mean, it was a long time ago, so I guess I'm not surprised since you're so busy with schoolwork and all that and you know because the Vytal Festival is coming up and everybody's doing something for that big bash and all that and yeah." She took a deep breath. "Anyway, gotta run! Some more!"

Mizuki managed a tiny smile before turning back to her books. Lilly could not help but notice the similarity between this Mizuki and the Mizuki she encountered in that other world, except that the other Mizuki, the one chained up to the building with fleshy veins, was the absolute representation of the real Mizuki's grief.

Whatever that was, it had something to do with the constant despair that forever plagued the Mizuki that Lilly had come to know. She would find a way to get back into that world and save her. Somehow. As she turned to leave the library, Ami grabbed on to her leg.

"What's wrong?" Lilly asked, squatting in front of the little girl.

"Are you going to save my mama?" she asked.

"You bet I am. You stay here where it's safe."

She nodded. "Okay." She held out the lily pin.

"You hang on to that for me. It'll help me get back to the real world after I save your mom."

Ami nodded, pocketing the pin and heading back to her mother's side. Lilly smiled for a moment, watching as Ami sat beside Mizuki. It was too much of a similarity to be mere coincidence. There were days when her own mother would be despondent, though she did a much better job at hiding it than Mizuki did. Lilly always saw through her charades, though. After all, there were some nights where all she would hear from her mother's room is incessant sobbing that went all the way until dawn.

She swore at this moment that that fate would not befall these two. She turned to leave the study hall, trying to figure out a way to get back to that other world. The problem was that she had no idea how she even entered it, let alone where to enter from. She was walking through the library halls, determination coursing through her veins. Before she knew it, the windows were no longer letting in any sunlight and she found herself in that other world again.

She turned around. There were no monsters in sight, but she could feel that presence again, that immense weight and pressure that seemed to crush everything around it.

Everything except her.

She would not be crushed today.

And she would not allow Mizuki's other self to be crushed either.

She ran back in the direction of the study hall and kicked the door open before barging in. The internal space had been altered drastically. This room should have been impossible, easily exceeding the external dimensions of the building itself. At the back of the hall, standing between her and the imprisoned Mizuki, was an enormous monster, probably two stories in height with the mass to crush anything beneath its feet.

Lilly took valiant stride after valiant stride, her face painted with a look reserved for veterans of war. There was not a single doubt in her mind at this moment. She may have been but a fraction of the size and mass of this ogre-like monster, but she wasn't one to back down.

"Let her go!" Lilly yelled to the monster as she faced off with it.

"I don't think you understand," the monster growled, surprising Lilly.

 _It can talk?_

"I do not keep her here. I only ensure that no outsiders interfere with what she desires."

"What she desires? You think she desires self-torture?"

"That is the purpose for this place's existence. It is the prison within her own heart."

 _The prison within her heart?_ "And what about you? Are you the prison's warden?"

"On the contrary, I am not here to keep her in. I am here to keep outsiders out. Outsiders such as yourself."

"See, here's the thing about me that you should probably understand. I picked up a little something from my mom, and it's called defiance. I defy you, warden. And I _will_ free her."

The giant ogre pulled something out of the ground, a bone-like instrument that transformed into a massive cleaver, large enough to flatten her with a swat. That wasn't enough to make her back down, though.

"You think that scares me?" she spat.

"The time for talk is over!" the ogre yelled, dashing at her.

"I was about to say the same thing!" Lilly said, leaping up in the air to dodge the monster's downward strike. She landed on the spine of the cleaver and vaulted off of it, dashing straight for the monster's head and unleashing a Fire Dust attack. It was blinded temporarily, but it was way too massive for such a paltry attack to have any meaningful effect. It swung at her with its free hand, but she switched over to Earth Dust, creating a rock platform off of which she could jump and somersault to safety. She switched over to Ice Dust, encasing the giant cleaver in frost and preventing the monster from drawing it.

The ogre left its weapon behind and ran at her instead. She dashed in the opposite direction, keeping a safe distance between her and the ogre's long arm reach. It began to throw items at her, desks, computers, anything it could get its hands on, but Lilly was too quick, dodging each and every single projectile with little effort. She gasped as she landed on something strange and looked down. The fleshy floor beneath her had transformed into what looked like a hand, which grabbed her by the ankle, immobilizing her.

The ogre reached into the ground to draw another bone-like weapon, which turned out to be a club this time. Lilly had nowhere to go and she instinctively held up Myrtenaster to guard against the giant club. She realized it was probably pointless and that she would likely be in more pain than she'd ever felt in her life in just moments, but the pain never came. She felt the weight of the massive club impact Myrtenaster. At least, that's what she thought until she opened her eyes.

The ogre's club wasn't in physical contact with Myrtenaster, but rather a strange, glowing hologram between it and her weapon. The holographic image was bronze in color, arranged as five concentric pentagons with that same runic language from before.

 _A rune!_ Lilly thought. _But, how?_

There was no time to think on it any further. The ogre went for another swing, from the side this time, and Lilly went to block it again. The same bronze-colored, pentagonal rune appeared to guard her from the strike. She took this time to cut off the fleshy tendrils that bound her to the ground before leaping away to get out of danger.

The appearance of these runes gave her the confidence she needed for this fight. She charged forward, swinging and thrusting Myrtenaster at her opponent. She hadn't even activated any of the Dust modules, but attacks were flying at the ogre nonetheless, attacks that originated from runes of all types. The giant monster found itself barraged from all directions with fiery attacks, ice blasts, lightning strikes, and boulders that materialized in thin air.

One final strike came in the form of what appeared to be an energy-based outline of a sword, which emerged from a new type of rune she had yet to see until now. This silver-colored rune was in the shape of a sword-like image, complete with cross guard and runic lettering filling the geometry.

The sword-like apparition impaled the ogre before vanishing. Blood gushed from the monster's neck and it gurgled before falling to the ground, flailing as its lifeblood left its body. In seconds, it was motionless. Lilly stood in place for a moment, making sure that the monster was truly dead before walking up to it to poke it with Myrtenaster. Her guard was still up, but it seemed her enemy was down for good.

She ran to Mizuki, who was still attached to the foundations through those veins that appeared to draw something from her body. It wasn't blood, though, even if it was crimson in color. Blood doesn't glow the way this substance does, after all.

"Mizuki!" Lilly yelled.

She still had that vacant stare in her eyes. Lilly looked up at the veins. Would it be safe to cut them? What if this is what kept her alive? What if severing them killed the real Mizuki in the real world? She examined the veins more closely. They were indeed taking something out of her rather than supplying her with anything. She reached out to touch the veins when she was overcome with a powerful sense of despair.

"M-Mizuki?" she said quietly as her eyes filled with tears. "Is that what you're going through? I will get you out of this. I swear!"

Without another thought, she leaped up into the air and swung Myrtenaster as hard as she could, yelling at the top of her lungs. With a single swipe, she severed every one of the veins, which began spraying that glowing, crimson substance everywhere. None of it stuck to Lilly's clothing, though, but with every splatter, she could feel Mizuki's pain and sadness as though it was her very soul that spilled forth.

Lilly was nearly overcome with the tidal wave of emotions, dropping to her knees in front of her schoolmate. She looked up to see Mizuki falling forward and she caught her just in time.

"Mizuki!" she cried out.

"L...Lilly?" Mizuki managed, opening her eyes and gazing into Lilly's hazels. "Wh...what happened?"

"You're okay!"

"I'm...I'm going back now..."

"Huh?"

"To the real...me..."

Lilly's eyes opened wide as Mizuki began to fade away, dematerializing into sparkles of silver. She looked up, eyes wide open as the remnants of her schoolmate vanished into nothingness. She had no idea whether she had saved her just now or if she had killed her. What if she did the wrong thing? She had been too rash this time, not thinking things through. Her mother would be incensed right now if she—

There was a rumble. There was no time to ponder what had just happened. This place looked like it was about to collapse on top of her. She ran for the door, stumbling along the way and only barely managing to dodge a gigantic chunk coming down from the ceiling. She dashed through the halls, using Myrtenaster to blast open doors, eyes straight ahead as the building came crashing down all around her.

 _Keep going!_ she told herself. _Keep moving forward!_

—

"That's it," Leon said, standing up from the bench. "I can't just fucking sit here doing nothing. Lilly!"

"Leon, calm down!" Athena yelled at him.

Nothing anyone could say or do could make him listen now. He was determined to find her. Meanwhile, Penny had just rejoined the group.

"Any luck?" Ingrid asked her.

"I put campus security on alert," she said. "If she turns up, someone will find her." She turned to Leon, who was going around calling out for Lilly. "Leon!"

"Lilly!" he continued calling.

Right before their eyes, Lilly materialized before slamming right into Leon and knocking him down to the grass.

"Whoa!" Perseus and Xanthus yelled at the same time.

"Jinx!" Xanthus said.

"This is _not_ the time for this!" Perseus shouted.

"Lilly!" Ingrid and Echo yelled before running to their friend.

"Ow," Lilly said, rubbing her head before realizing she was on top of Leon. She gasped. "Leon!" She threw herself over him.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he said, rubbing his temple and shoulder.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Athena said, helping her up.

"From the library!" Lilly said.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Perseus said.

"I'm serious!" She looked over at the building. It was still standing. She turned to face her friends, who were awaiting an explanation. "Umm."

"Yeah," Ingrid said. "From the dirt and blood on you, I'd say you have a hell of a story. How 'bout you get checked out, have a shower, and we can talk in our room about this?"

"You don't seem to have any injuries," Penny said, examining her body.

"Yeah, I'm all right," Lilly said. "Honest."

"I believe it. Go and take a shower. I'll join you guys after I tell the guards to stand down."

Before heading off to the dorms, Lilly spotted Mizuki and Ami leaving the library, walking hand-in-hand to the student life center. Mizuki was markedly different from how she used to be. Lilly couldn't remember the last time a smile was on her face, and yet now it seemed that all of the old weight was lifted from her shoulders. Lilly threw her hands to her mouth, falling to her knees as she began to sob with the emotions overcoming her.

"Whoa," Leon said, crouching beside her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded as a few tears broke loose. "Yeah," she sighed. "I couldn't be better right now."

He smiled. She was crying, but she also seemed genuinely happy. "Well, let's get you all cleaned up then, huh?"

They were headed to the dorms when Ami ran to her and gave her an embrace.

"You saved my mommy," she said quietly.

Lilly gave her a smile.

"Here. I held on to it like you said. Did it help you?"

She accepted the lily pin. "Yes, it certainly did," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to make it back if it weren't for you. But let's keep this a secret between us, okay?"

Ami nodded with a big smile that mirrored Lilly's own.

"Go on now. Your mom is waiting for you."

"'Kay!"

Lilly watched as the little girl ran back to Mizuki. The latter didn't seem to have any awareness of what happened in that other world. Lilly didn't care about that, though. If what she did there reflected back in the real world and made Mizuki a brighter person, she was okay with that.

—

Ozpin was with Glynda and Qrow when Penny emerged from the elevator.

"Lilly is back in the real world," she said, approaching the others.

"When you say real world," Glynda began, "do you mean that...?"

"Yes. My scanners went haywire when she emerged from that other world. It was identical to the readings I got from eighteen years ago."

"A Labyrinth, huh?" Qrow said.

"Without a doubt. There was a Labyrinth right on campus grounds."

"And Lilly was strolling around in it."

Penny nodded. "I don't know exactly what happened, but when she emerged, I also picked up on something strange. From what I can tell out of these readings, I think that Labyrinth has...collapsed."

"What do you mean?" Glynda asked.

"Previously, whenever I would detect these things, the waves would linger in the area before gradually fading. But this time was much different. The waves didn't fade. They simply vanished. From a strong output to a nonexistent one."

"And you're thinking Lilly might have had something to do with this," Oscar said.

She didn't answer.

"Penny, it's okay."

"That's not it. The problem is that I _do_ think she had something to do with the Labyrinth collapse. I also don't want it to be true."

"You can't stop her from doing what she's destined to do," Qrow said.

"Who are you to dictate what her destiny is?" she yelled back before taking a deep breath and sighing heavily. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

"No, kiddo, it's okay. You have a point." He turned to Oscar. "Oz, I really hope you're not planning on using that girl as a weapon. Her mother has gone through enough. If she finds out that we're using her kid the way we used them all those years ago, the Silver Maiden might come back out of hiding. And Vale might disappear."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Oscar said, standing up and looking out the window. "I also don't intend on 'using' her as you suggest. However, I also will not stop her if she chooses to do these things of her own free will."

"Oscar?" Glynda said.

"She takes after him. We wouldn't be able to stop her even if we tried."

"Oz has a good point," Qrow said.

"Penny. Continue training her. If she does happen upon another one of these Labyrinths, she will likely try to make an incursion on her own. Try and follow her if possible. If not, then at least she will be prepared to face them."

Penny sighed. "All right. I'll do my best to ensure she's ready. Oh, and there's one more thing you should probably know."

"What's that?"

"I detected something else out of her body. It's no different from what I detected from her father. Her power is increasing."

"Understood. Carry on."

Penny gave them a small bow before leaving the office.

"What do you think?" Qrow asked. "Is she the one causing all this?"

"I don't know what to think," Oscar said. "She is his daughter, after all. And we know for sure that the Labyrinths originated from him."

"His Wraith, in particular," Glynda said.

"Yes. And if she has a Wraith of her own, Penny would have been able to detect it by now."

"That's if it actually shows itself," Qrow said. "Remember that his Wraith was able to hide from everyone."

"What do we do, then?" Glynda said.

"For now," Oscar began, "all we can do is wait, and hope that nothing bad happens during the Vytal Festival."


	23. Chapter XXIII

CHAPTER XXIII

 _May Flower_

"I still can't believe you went through all that," Ingrid said as she and Lilly walked through Vale to do some shopping for new summer dresses.

"I can hardly believe any of it myself," Lilly said. "If it wasn't for Mizuki and her little girl, I would have thought it was all just a daydream."

"That and the fact that you were covered in blood and dirt."

"Yeah. None of that was my own, by the way."

"I figured as much. Hey, do you think Yuan would like this?"

Lilly stopped to look at the tie Ingrid was holding. "It's light green. His color. Yeah, I think he'd look good in it." She paused. "Do _you_ think he'd look good with it on?"

Ingrid looked at her partner, who was grinning. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. You're terrible."

"And you're hopeless! Hopelessly in—"

"Don't you dare say it, Lilly."

"—In love!"

"You traitor!"

Lilly giggled before hugging her partner.

"Ugh. You suck."

"You should totally get it for him! It'll go good with our uniforms, too, so he doesn't to wear that same red tie with his uniform every day."

"You think it'll get him in trouble if he wears the wrong colors, though?"

"Psh. Leon doesn't even wear the tie and no one ever says anything about it."

"I think the teachers all just gave up. They probably told him like a hundred times at the beginning of the school year and when he never complied, they just abandoned the issue."

She giggled. "So buy it already!"

"Okay, okay! Gosh, when did _you_ get all pushy?"

—

"You should totally get that, dude," Leon said to Yuan, who was browsing for a pair of lapis lazuli earrings. "It'll go with the necklace you got her a while back."

Yuan didn't answer, admiring the intricate patterns in the stones. Some might call the patterns random, but random patterns made the rock unique.

"Oh, wait, you're not getting this for her birthday, are you?"

"I am, actually," Yuan said.

"Oh, shit, son. You remembered her birthday, huh?"

"It's the same as yours and Athena's, only the numbers are switched around."

"Yeah, that's how I remember her birthday, too, hah!"

"Are you really okay with this?"

"We talked about this already. It didn't work out between us. We figured out at Winter Formal that we loved each other as a family, not romantically. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's beautiful, but like I said, she's more family to me than anything."

"I don't know what to do, though. For her birthday, I mean."

"She really likes sushi, you know. I mean, you _would_ know since you make it for her every fucking day, but she doesn't get tired of it."

"That's not what I mean. I don't wanna just take her out to dinner or something. I wanna go...do something with her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold your pony!"

"N-No! Not, not _that_!"

"Okay, good, cuz I was about to get all ghetto on yo ass just now."

He sighed. "I want to take her out, but I don't know what to do. I've never done this kind of stuff before. I mostly just focused on school."

"Forever Fall."

"Hmm?"

"She won't say it out loud, but that's her favorite spot, too. Just like her mom. Actually, she probably got it from her. Athena, Astor, and I used to take there all the time for her birthday. That was back when we were all still at Signal. We'd head all the way to the cliffs in the northwest and just listen to the surf crashing on the rocks below. If you're into beach stuff, I think there's a small cove in the same area, close enough to the city that you don't have to hike all the way out into the middle of nowhere."

"What should I bring? How should I dress? Should we pack some lunches?"

"Jeez, dude! Relax! It's not like you're planning to propose to her, are you?"

Yuan went bright red. "N-No! Of course not!"

"There you go. Just be yourself, dress however you want. I mean, hell, your usual clothing is perfectly fine."

"If you say so."

"Ingrid isn't the kind of girl you need to impress. If she likes you, she likes you. You don't have to prove yourself to her."

"I know, but still. I want her to know I'm at least making an effort."

"Bruh. Like I already said. She'd much more prefer you to be you and not fake you. If you doll yourself up just for her sake, it's gonna really turn her off. Trust me, man. I grew up with her."

"Does part of you regret it?"

"Regret what? That she and I didn't become a thing?"

Yuan nodded.

"Partly, I guess. I mean, I know everything about her. She knows everything about me. We coulda been the perfect couple. Or worst enemies!" he laughed. "Anyway, what's done is done. She and I aren't meant to be. And besides, I think you captured her heart. After all, you're our master chef. And everybody knows the way to a girl's heart is through her stomach."

He stared at his partner for a while.

"What?" Leon said.

"I don't know. Most things that come out of your mouth have some kind of sexual innuendo attached to it. I can't figured out if this 'stomach' comment is supposed to be straightforward or what."

Leon burst out laughing. "I'm talking about your cooking, you fucker! Jeez!"

"Can you blame me?"

"I guess not," he laughed. "Listen. Have a light lunch. Or pack a small one if you wanna get all romantic and have a picnic on the cliffs or on the beach. After that, bring her to the pier and we all can meet you there and celebrate as a big group, then you walk her home and kiss her goodnight and it'll be a happy day."

Yuan reddened again.

"What? You never kiss a girl goodnight before?"

He didn't answer.

"If you need a demonstration, I can do it to her tonight and you can watch."

"Can you?"

" _What_? Dude, you are fucking weird."

"I don't know any of this!"

Leon couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, man. This is great."

—

The twenty-first of May came quickly and Yuan found his throat in knots. Leon had offered to cook breakfast in his stead since he needed to prepare the picnic he had in mind for the outing with Ingrid.

"Uh," Lilly began, "why is the bacon super dark?"

"Leon likes everything well-done," Ingrid said.

"I smell bacon!" Athena yelled as she threw their door open. The rest of her team piled into the room with her.

"I told you they'd get in on this," Leon said.

"Good thing you cooked extra," Yuan said.

"Sausage!" Perseus said.

"And eggs!" Echo said.

"And hash browns," Xanthus said. Lilly pushed up his glasses before he could and they chuckled together.

The group ate quickly. The table in Team LILY's room was too tiny for everyone to sit at and they all ate in a hurry. At least, that was the excuse everyone gave before vacating and leaving Yuan and Ingrid in the room alone.

"We'll take care of the washing this time!" Lilly said. "Don't you worry about us!"

"Yup!" Leon said. "Just chillax and have fun!"

"See y'all later!" Athena said, the last to disappear into the hall.

"Jeez," Ingrid said. "What's the rush?" She turned to Yuan, who was reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small blue box. She was about to ask what it was when she recognized the size and shape and the logo on top of it. Her heart stopped beating and her face turned bright red as she realized what was about to happen. She squeezed her hands together between her knees as butterflies wrought havoc on her stomach.

"Um," Yuan said, swallowing hard. "I got this for you." He handed the box to her. "Hap—" he cleared his throat, "—happy birthday."

She shook as she opened the box. Inside it was a pair of silver oval drop earrings, each one with a lapis lazuli stone set into it. They were a perfect match to the necklace he had gotten her months ago.

"D-Do you like it?" Yuan asked.

She nodded quickly before tying her hair back and putting them on. He gulped as she got up and went through her dresser, taking out the matching lapis lazuli teardrop necklace and putting it on. She turned to face him. It wasn't Winter Formal anymore and she was only in pajamas, but damn if Yuan could deny her beauty. They had been training together for more than half a year now and her tank top showed off her toned shoulders and arms and he found himself tightening up. He looked away momentarily.

"You don't like it?" Ingrid said, her cat ears flattening.

"N-No, that's not it!" Yuan said. "I-I just, uh, d-do you have anything planned for today?"

She smiled, reddening. "Not in particular. Why?"

"I was w-wondering if you'd l-like to go to Forever F-Fall with me."

She tried to stifle a chuckle. She'd never heard Yuan stutter. Ever. Watching this was both unbearable and adorable all at the same time. "Yes. I'd love to go with you."

She said the word "love." Yuan felt like his whole body just melted into a puddle onto the floor. Her lips were moving, but no words were reaching him.

"Yuan?" her voice finally sounded.

"H-Huh?" he stammered.

"I was asking what time you wanted to go," she chuckled.

"Oh, uh, around lunch time, maybe?"

She smiled. "Sure."

"Cool."

"I, uh, I'm gonna go get changed," she said as she went through her dresser.

"Y-Yeah, I should probably get changed, too," he said as he also searched for something to wear.

While he was facing the other direction, Ingrid stole a glance at him. She didn't mind him being shirtless like this. His well-toned body was a sight to behold. His eyes went to her and she gasped, returning to what she was doing. Her face felt like it was about to explode. Did he see her staring? Maybe it was just her imagination. She glanced back over at him. He was bright red. She was sure now that he had caught her and her cat ears went flat again as her whole body felt like it was about to catch fire. She hurried to the door when he turned as well, almost bumping into her.

"Sorry," they said at the same time, reddening.

"Y-You go first," Yuan said.

"Okay," Ingrid said quickly before heading out only a step ahead of him. There were gasps in the hallway along with the sound of scurrying. Ingrid's pace hastened and she turned in the direction of the sounds of flight. "Hey! Were all of you spying on us?"

"Nope! Not me!"

"That sounded like Leon," Yuan said.

Ingrid let out an exasperated groan. "I'm gonna go shower and change."

—

Their trip through Forever Fall took them through the thickest parts of the forest. Instead of going straight to their destination, they decided to hike along the northern cliffs, taking in the scenery.

"Was it Leon who put you up to this?" Ingrid said as they stopped at a bluff that overlooked the ocean.

"Well," Yuan began, "I mean, I just wanted to do something for your birthday. I had no idea what to do or where to go, so he said to take you here."

"Did he tell you this was my favorite spot in all of Vale?"

"Yes, he did."

She chuckled. "It's true. My mom loves this place, too. I guess it kinda rubbed off on me. There was nothing in Menagerie like this. We have nice jungles and mountains and stuff, too, but this is the only forest in the world that's constantly this color."

"Is it because it's Leon's color?"

She turned to him. "Was that jealousy I'm sensing?"

"N-No, not at all."

She chuckled before looking back out over the ocean. "No, it's not because it's his color. And if you're gonna go down that road, Athena's color is red, too, if you haven't noticed."

"But his is more of a dark red and hers is more of a bright red."

"True. Actually, I was the only one out of our little circle of friends whose color wasn't red. Astor's color is red, too." She paused. "Now that you mention it, maybe that's why I love this place so much. It reminds me of the three closest friends I've ever had. _And_ it brings me closer to my mom."

"I see."

"But," she said, facing him. "I guess I could appreciate the Emerald Forest, too."

He turned to her. She was smiling at him. She wore a black tank top to their outing today, her hair tied back with an indigo bow, showing off her shoulders and neck. Her necklace and new earrings glimmered in the sunlight. As far as Yuan was concerned, she could be wearing a beautiful gown right now or her gym clothes. She would look just as beautiful no matter what she was wearing. Or if she weren't wearing anything at all—

 _My god,_ he thought to himself, reddening. _Has my partner infected me?_

"What's wrong?" she said.

"N-Nothing. I was just thinking this is a good spot to have lunch."

She smiled. "What did you pack?"

"Your favorite, of course."

He rolled open a small mat for them to sit on, taking out two bento boxes out of his pack and handing one to her. She opened it up, mouth instantly watering at the sight of the numerous rolls he had made for her. Yellowtail, salmon, and spicy tuna, her favorites. She took a yellowtail roll first. She could never get tired of how good this particular fish was, especially in the winter months when it was fattier. This season's fish was more lean and the tanginess was more prominent.

Yuan glanced over at her as they ate. From the smile on her face, he could tell she was pleased with their lunch, even if it was a daily thing. Perhaps it wasn't the food itself that was the delicious part of the meal. After all, his own father had told him more than once that the food itself is only half of the joy. The other half is whom you share it with.

"I really appreciate this," Ingrid said as she finished her lunch.

He looked at her, jade eyes locking with her ambers.

"Leon probably told you the story of how they always took me out here for my birthday, which was true. But it's different when someone else does it for you, you know?"

He nodded.

"I guess, it's just..."

He scooted closer to her and she did the same.

"I dunno. I never really thought about this kind of stuff. I always focused on following after my mom's footsteps, making sure I did my best in combat school, concentrating on getting into Beacon, all that stuff."

"I guess we're kinda similar like that," he said. "I stuck to nothing but studies back at Sanctum. Mom always pushed me hard to do my best. Dad always just gave me silent approval whenever I did well. When he felt like I wasn't doing my best, which he was one hundred percent accurate about, he'd give me a disappointed look, which was worse than any yelling my mom ever did. So yeah."

Ingrid smiled. "For what it's worth," she began, "you're one of the best teammates anybody could ask for. No, _the best_ teammate anybody could ask for."

He smiled back. There were no more words to exchange. It seemed that a kind of gravity had formed and the gap between them continued to shrink until they were mere inches apart, but Ingrid stopped herself, her cat ears perking up.

"Do you hear that?" she said.

Yuan listened closely to the wind. His senses weren't as keen as Ingrid's, but he, too, could sense something peculiar in the air. They both stood up at the same time, concentrating on the sounds, trying to listen over the rustling of the leaves and the crashing of the waves down below.

"Is that..." Yuan began.

"A boat?" Ingrid said.

They looked at each other before packing up their picnic to cover their tracks. They darted to the east, where the sound was coming from. After a few minutes of navigating their way through the forest, they came upon their target, flattening themselves against the ground as they spied on the cargo ship in the distance. Yuan reached into his pack to pull out a pair of binoculars.

"Jupiter Enterprises," he said, handing the binoculars to Ingrid.

"That's their logo all right," she said. "But what are they doing going this way? The port is all the way over in the west. They're going in the opposite direction."

"Look over there," Yuan said, pointing over to a nearby coastal cave.

"I never knew there was a cave all the way out here, especially not one that a big cargo ship could dock in. And I've been out here a lot."

"You wanna keep checking it out?"

"Yeah. Let's take notes, too."

They relocated, keeping to the trees to prevent leaving any tracks. They watched as the cargo ship unloaded large, unmarked steel crates into a facility that was built within the walls of the cave.

"What could they be doing?" Yuan said.

"I don't know," Ingrid said. "Security is too heavy for us to get any closer than this, though."

"We should probably head back and report to the headmaster."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" someone yelled.

Ingrid and Yuan turned around quickly to face a group of about a dozen soldiers, each of them aiming their rifles in their direction.

"We were just having a picnic," Yuan said.

"Okay, that's it, you're coming with us—"

Without another word, Ingrid had split herself into six, the maximum number of clones her Semblance allowed for. Three were powered with Fire Dust and three with Ice Dust. The resulting explosion created a cloud of mist that gave the duo just the cover they needed to escape.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to fight," Yuan said as he drew his Ji halberd, "but we may not have a choice."

"Yuan!" Ingrid yelled.

He just barely managed to dodge an incoming missile from out of nowhere. "Robots?" he said.

"Looks like it!" Ingrid said, splitting up Shadow Blitz to wield it as dual swords. She leaped at a nearby robot, dropping off an identical shadow clone to take the hit before landing on its shoulders, driving both her swords into vital areas and rendering the machine inoperable.

"You didn't kill the pilot, did you?" Yuan asked.

"I don't think it had one."

"A.I.?"

"I thought only Atlas used those kinds of machines."

They continued dashing through Forever Fall, dodging all sorts of robotic weaponry. Unlike Atlas, which fielded mainly androids, these machines varied widely, ranging from dog-like robots to wasp-like drones.

"There's no way," Ingrid said. "This _can't_ be Jupiter Tech."

"My dad always told me," Yuan said, slashing through a wasp drone, "that underestimating one's enemy is the worst mistake that one can make."

"It's not underestimation," Ingrid said, stabbing another drone in the camera before attaching her swords end to end to form a double-headed spear and running alongside her companion. "It's disbelief."

There was a much larger robot waiting for them ahead. It had numerous guns aimed in their direction.

"Ingrid!" Yuan yelled, dashing ahead of her. He reached back just as she reached out to him.

He hurled her with enormous force, having used his aura in a combustive manner to blast his comrade forward. She split from herself two identical, independent clones, the maximum of this type her Semblance allowed her to create. The two clones attacked alongside her, stabbing their own weapons into the massive robot before Ingrid and Yuan resumed their escape. Each of Ingrid's shadow clones had the tactical capacity to keep the robot's attention off of the two.

"Your clones are getting smarter," Yuan said.

"They last longer, too," she said. "It used to be that I could only maintain them for ten seconds. It's up to thirty seconds now. And they also fight like I do. They're mostly suicidal, though, instead of fighting with actual intelligence."

"It fits, though. They do everything to help you escape danger."

"Yeah. What was that you did, by the way? I don't think you've ever thrown me that hard before."

"I used my aura."

"Oh, right, you can do that. Still, it felt like a rocket was behind me."

"It's a different form of weaponized aura. Instead of stabbing you with it, I exploded it behind you and used it as a propellant."

"That's pretty clever."

"They should stop chasing us when we get close to Beacon."

"Assuming we can get there in time."

"I think we can do it."

She glanced at him and smiled. He returned her smile. Just as Yuan had predicted, the drones and robots stopped their pursuit as soon as they were within sight of Beacon's guard towers. Still, both kept their guard up. They couldn't know what their pursuers had in store for them.

"I think we're in the clear—"

Ingrid's declaration was cut short with a high-powered, high-density sniper bullet, which cut right through her aura and her lung, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Ingrid!" Yuan yelled before picking her up and concentrating all of his aura in massive layers behind them. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Each sniper shot took down more and more layers of his aura until there was only one remaining. He was already on campus when the last barrier was broken and his aura shattered.

 _Damn it,_ he thought, grunting as he continued to flee. Predicting another shot coming, he dove to the ground, but not quite fast enough, the sniper's bullet went through his shoulder and he yelled as he tumbled, dropping Ingrid in the process. This would not be the end. No. He had someone very important to protect.

In seconds, his aura had been fully restored and he concentrated it into a defensive wall once more, picking up Ingrid from the ground and continuing his flight, ignoring the pain in his right shoulder as he carried his companion to safety.

 _As long as you get out of this alive,_ he thought, _I don't care what happens to me_.

More sniper shots were incoming, tearing away each defensive layer after another once again. The final projectile was an explosive one and the blast sent him and his charge flying, bringing down his aura in the process.

The world spun around him as the concussion from the blast knocked him into a delirium. He fought through the haze, managing to locate Ingrid, who was several yards away from him. He crawled his way to her, reaching her in what felt like forever.

"Yuan," she wheezed. "Wh...What are you...?"

He didn't answer, positioning himself between her and the sniper.

"Don't be...stupid...Yuan..."

Nothing she could say would dissuade him. He was going to be her shield, no matter what. Only he had the power to do it. Once more, he concentrated his aura into a defensive bubble behind him and felt each layer strip away with each shot from the sniper's rifle.

"It's okay," Yuan said, smiling at Ingrid. "I'm happy to take the hit for you."

Ingrid wanted to berate him for being such a macho idiot, but she knew that wasn't the kind of person he was. Tears began to form in her eyes. She wanted to trade places with him, but she didn't have the power to do what he was doing now, not to mention that she was in no shape to even move, not with that hole in her lung.

She watched in horror as his aura collapsed one more time before blood spurted into her face from his chest. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She was losing consciousness. The last thing she remembered before her world turned to blackness was his eyes going distant.


	24. Chapter XXIV

CHAPTER XXIV

 _A Fallen Hero_

Ingrid slowly opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes to allow her mind to fully wake up. Her left hand was itchy and she reached over to scratch, but stopped upon feeling something coming out of her flesh. It was an IV. She tried to sit up, but winced at the sharp pain in her right chest.

"Ingrid?" Lilly's voice sounded through the haze in her mind. "Ingrid!"

A pair of arms wrapped around her and she closed her eyes to try and numb the pain all over her body.

"Shit, thank the gods," Perseus said.

Leon felt a heavy weight lift off of his shoulders. He and Athena shared a glance before both started to become overtaken by the emotion. Echo was in the furthest corner of the room, curled up into a ball, her face hidden behind her knees. Xanthus was nowhere to be found. His way of coping was to involve himself with the cabal that Penny was a part of. He had forced his way into Oscar's office, demanding to know why so many bad things seemed to follow them around.

Lilly continued to sob on her partner's shoulder while the latter closed her eyes to collect her thoughts. Yuan's face flashed into her mind.

"Where is he?" she demanded, grimacing through the pain as she sat up.

"Don't!" Lilly said through tears. "You're still injured!"

"I don't care!" Ingrid yelled. "Where is Yuan?"

No one answered, but there was a collective flinch in the entire room.

"Yuan's," Lilly began as she wiped tears away. "He's..."

"Quit stalling, dammit!" Ingrid said, tearing the IVs out of her skin and unhooking herself from the monitor. She stumbled to the doorway.

"Wait," Leon said.

"Leon," Ingrid said, her eyes burning. "Don't you try and stop me."

"I wasn't. Just...let us help you."

"I gotcha," Athena said, shouldering her out of the room.

The rest followed.

"Where is he?" Ingrid said, panic evident in her voice. "I want answers!"

"He's alive," Athena said.

Ingrid sensed more and she waited for the rest as patiently as she could, but she could only wait for so long. "But?" she said.

"Do you know how long you've been unconscious?"

"Do I _look_ like I fucking know?"

"Three days," Perseus said. "And that's how long he's been out, too."

Ingrid's whole body went cold. She hurried in the direction Athena had been leading her. Nurses and other staff tried to stop them, but Ingrid was on a mission. Only an act of the gods would be able to keep her down.

She threw her hand to the window of the intensive care unit as she looked in, eyes wide open, breathing as erratic as her heartbeat. Yuan was lying completely still, barely breathing, tubes coming out of his mouth and nose and in other places. She went for the door. The physical pain her body was in meant absolutely nothing to her right this moment. She needed to get to him. She needed to touch his hand to assure herself that she wasn't hallucinating.

Security guards came upon the group, but Perseus and Athena were between them in a heartbeat, shields deployed and ready for action.

"Please!" Lilly begged everyone. "Stop this!"

Athena and Perseus glanced over at their friend and then looked back to the security guards, who seemed to falter. After a few moments, the guards backed down and both Athena and Perseus lowered their shields, but stood in place, neither speaking, both glaring, letting everyone around them know that they meant business.

"We'll only be a short while," Leon said to the head nurse, barely maintaining his composure. "I do apologize for all the ruckus, but that's our friend in there." His voice broke at the word "friend." "And he's...a bit more than that to her."

"I understand," the head nurse said. "Don't be too long. There's a lot of sensitive equipment in there."

"Thanks." He turned to Lilly and Echo, who were in each other's arms. He walked over to the glass to peer in. Ingrid was kneeling at the side of the bed, tightly clasping his cold hand in hers, sobbing against the mattress.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "You're like this because of me."

"Don't say that," Lilly said, kneeling as she embraced her.

"He put himself in harm's way. Because of me, Lilly."

Lilly shook her head. "Shh. Stop it, Ingrid."

"Lilly," Ingrid said, turning to her partner. "What am I gonna do?"

Lilly wiped her own tears away before doing the same for her partner. "What you're gonna do," she began, "is continue on with what you've been doing. We're gonna keep on going because that's what we do. And have faith. Yuan will pull through just as you pulled through."

Ingrid embraced her partner before sobbing on her shoulder. The sobbing turned into soft crying as the emotions began to pile up. Before either one knew it, she was wailing. Lilly couldn't stop her own tears from falling as she rocked her partner back and forth, failing miserably in her attempt to console her.

Outside the room, no one was in any better shape. Perseus coped by standing guard beside Leon, but both were only a thread away from falling apart themselves. Neither could look the other in the eye for fear of breaking down.

Echo looked over at Athena, who was leaning against the wall with one leg folded up, her arms across her chest, head down, golden bangs covering her midnight blue eyes. She couldn't handle it anymore and walked up to her partner, wrapping her arms around her and sobbing into her chest. Athena returned her embrace, leaning her head on top of Echo's, allowing her tears to fall onto her hair.

Meanwhile, Lilly continued to cradle her partner. Ingrid was inconsolable. Her howling would reverberate throughout the halls until she passed out from exhaustion.

—

Xanthus barely kept it together as the headmaster and his inner circle discussed the situation so callously. Penny put a hand to his to still his anger. She, too, couldn't stand the seeming lack of concern, but her empathy Semblance allowed her to sense that Oscar, Glynda, and Qrow were, as a matter of fact, devastated over the news. However, they could not dwell on this incident. There were much more pressing matters to address.

The first-year class president held his tongue as the conference continued. Most of the discussion went into one ear and out the other, but he kept track of the general idea of what was going on. He closed his eyes, trying to clear from his mind the sight of both of his friends in such horrid conditions.

He was the one out of their circle who had come upon the near-lifeless bodies of both Yuan and Ingrid. It was he who had unleashed the full might of his Semblance like a fool, blasting wildly into the forest with his power. Fortunately, he had enough sense at the time that he used his Sword of Heaven instead of the other and his Semblance at full power enabled him to erect a massive wall of ice, which acted as a nigh-impenetrable shield that he had used as cover while dragging both his comrades to safety as the security teams went after the perpetrator.

All he could think about now was Ingrid's feeble gasps for air and that empty look in Yuan's eyes. Had he been a second later, they might not have been able to save him. His scroll vibrated and he took a look. It was a text message from his partner.

Perseus: _ingrid is awake_

Xanthus: _what about yuan?_

Perseus didn't respond to his message.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Penny said.

He laid his scroll on the table and Penny glanced at the text messages. She looked down, fighting to keep her emotions in check. She gave him a light touch on the hand before returning her attention to the conference.

Xanthus had his eyes closed for most of the discussions, responding when addressed, but with none of the usual cordiality. All of his answers were terse and emotionless.

"If there is nothing left to discuss," Oscar began, "then let us adjourn this meeting."

There was no response.

"I'll see you all at our next scheduled conference."

"C'mon," Penny said, standing up and touching Xanthus on the shoulder. "We're up."

He followed her into the elevator with Headmaster Pine, Assistant Headmaster Goodwitch, and Professor Branwen. Everyone was silent during the entire ascent. Xanthus was still only barely keeping it together as Oscar headed to his table and sat down, burying his face in his hands for a moment before pouring some hot cocoa into his mug.

"Have a seat, Mr. Xenon," Oscar said.

"I'd rather stand, thank you," Xanthus said flatly.

He sighed. "I don't want you to think that we don't care about Yuan. He means a lot to us."

"Forgive me if I fail to see eye to eye with all of you."

"He's more than just a student, Xanthus. He's the son of two of our old friends from the Labyrinth War."

He looked up at the headmaster.

"Qrow and I fought alongside both of Yuan's parents." He looked over at Penny, who wasn't making any eye contact. "As did Penny."

Xanthus slowly turned over to Penny. She was avoiding his eyes.

"Yes, she fought in that war as well, as part of Team JNPR, which included both Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie."

He continued to stare at her. "How is that possible? You had to have been, what two years old?"

"Something like that," Penny said, finally turning to him. "I didn't lie to you about my age. I estimate that I'm only about twenty-one years old. I was approximately three years old when I participated in the Labyrinth War with Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao-Long, Sun Wukong, and...Sir Bedivere of Kameloth."

Xanthus was incredulous. "I-I mean, what, were you a super-toddler or something?"

She chuckled. "No. I possessed a different body then."

"Penny was an android," Qrow said.

Xanthus turned to him and then back to Penny. "Wait, what?"

She didn't answer.

"But..." He reached out to her, grasping her hand. "No. This is not the cold touch of a robot."

"Didn't you hear me, kid?" Qrow said. "Penny was an android."

Xanthus looked at him for a moment. " _Was_?"

"She is a cyborg now," Glynda said.

"What?"

"Cybernetic organism."

"I am familiar with the term."

"Xanthus," Penny said, holding his hand. "Please, don't tell the others. Not just yet."

He wanted to ask why, but one look into her emerald eyes was all he needed to know exactly why she kept up this charade. This was her way of becoming more human. If she transitioned from full-blown robot to partially organic being, then everything else was part of the shift. More than anything, she wanted—no, she _needed_ to believe that she was human.

"But," Xanthus began. "I mean, _none_ of us would have ever...you don't even act...there's nothing about you that's..."

"Machine?" Qrow said. "How do you think she's so much stronger than all of us? Even I look slow compared to her."

He reminisced on all the times he saw her in action. Qrow wasn't exaggerating. He had assumed that Qrow's slowness in comparison to Penny was due to the age difference between them, but if Penny truly was a cyborg, it made perfect sense for her to be so much stronger and faster than him.

"That's not what I'm saying," Xanthus said. "Nothing about you would have hinted at you being not human. Nothing."

She smiled. That was the best news she could ever have heard.

"Your touch is warm. You act human. You _are_ human."

"Hillphire Tech does wonders," she said.

"Wait a minute. Could you be her? Could you be that secret weapon of Hillphire Innovations? The one they call Persephone?"

She didn't answer.

"My god. That _is_ you. Penny. Persephone. How did I not make this connection before?"

"You sound really excited," Qrow said.

Xanthus pushed up his glasses before continuing. "Persephone is the name of the project that Dr. William Hillphire has been working on for the last two decades, the creation of an artificial human that is indistinguishable from an actual human. Rather than robotic components like what Atlas Tech and Jupiter Tech use, Hillphire Tech uses quasi-organic materials, such as electroactive polymers, carbon nanotubes—wait. Your body is synthetic?"

"Mostly," Penny said.

"Mostly?"

She nodded. "My most recent upgrades include an organic digestive system."

"And that's why you can eat and drink with us. So, your torso, is it fully organic?"

She shook her head. "I have a few things that are fully organic, but mostly everything is pseudo-organic. My heart needs to be advanced tech in order to keep up with the function of my limbs. I also contain a Dust micro-reactor in my chest, sharing the cavity along with my heart."

Xanthus's mind went wild with all of the technical specs when he realized what he was doing. "S-Sorry, Penny, I didn't mean to treat you like a science experiment."

She shook her head with a smile. "It's okay, Xanthus."

"I apologize. That must be why you kept it from us for so long."

"Xanthus, really, it's okay. Besides, you already said it yourself. You couldn't even tell I wasn't human."

"It's not that I can't tell you're not human. It's that you're not _not-human_."

"Huh?" Qrow said.

"As far as I am concerned, human is not determined by the composition of one's body, but by what the heart is made of. And by heart, I mean soul. In my book, you're human, Miss Penny, just with a much stronger body than the rest of us."

"I appreciate that, Xanthus," she said.

"I'm not trying to make you feel better or flatter you. I'm being sincere."

"I know. That's why I want to thank you."

He managed a smile before turning back to Oscar and bowing. "I apologize for assuming you didn't care about us. It is apparent that Yuan Ren and Ingrid Belladonna are important to everyone in this room. I also understand that there are extremely important matters to discuss."

"Yes," Oscar said. "The fact of the matter is that Ingrid and Yuan stumbled upon something quite...unsettling."

"Do you require me to interview Ingrid?"

"When she is ready, of course," Glynda said. "We don't want to stress her any more than she already is, especially with her injuries, both physical and emotional."

Xanthus looked down to the ground before turning back to them. "I will do my best."

"You already are, kid," Qrow said. "Keep it up."

He bowed to the group before turning to leave. He stopped, looking over at Penny.

"Go with them," Oscar said. "They're your friends, too."

Penny gave them a small smile before joining Xanthus on the elevator.

"Damn it," Qrow said. "That kid better not goddamn die."

"He has his mother's tenacity," Oscar said. "I believe that he will pull through."

—

Physical therapy was tough, even for Ingrid. Her aura was fully active and healing her body as she went through the exercises, but it was still necessary to get her muscles and joints back in working order. After all, she was out for three whole days. Even in such a relatively short time, with the injuries she sustained in her battle, her body was battered beyond what normal people could withstand.

Still, she was in better shape than Yuan. The thought made her resolve fall apart and she ended up on the ground.

"Sorry," she said to the therapist.

"Don't apologize," she said. "This is gonna be hard for the first stretch, even for somebody like you. But I've seen other Huntsmen in here and you're in much better condition than some of those guys would be in."

She knew she wasn't referring to Yuan in particular, but it still made her feel like she had been kicked in the gut.

"Let's call it a day, yeah?" the therapist said.

"No," Ingrid said. "He's fighting with everything he's got. I'm going to give it my all, too."

The therapist looked around. There was no one else in the room with them. She figured Ingrid was talking about a fellow patient, probably that boy who was brought in here with her.

"Have faith in him," the therapist said. "You woke up, didn't you? You Huntsmen are tough cookies. I've seen a lot of crap, believe me, and you guys haven't even seen the worst part of it."

She was right. Ingrid and her friends still had yet to see the worst part about being at war.


	25. Chapter XXV

CHAPTER XXV

 _Pressed, Not Crushed_

Ingrid spent some time with Xanthus, giving him all of the information he needed about the attack. Although she and Yuan had made a positive ID on the perpetrators, the ones in actual pursuit in the woods did not have any badges or nametags to associate them with anyone. The sniper had also fought to the death and the authorities failed to get any information from him. The cave that they found was also empty, cleaned out of any identifying marks, though it was clear that it was recently used.

"What do the higher ups think?" Ingrid asked.

"Don't worry about it," Xanthus said. "Just rest."

"I'm fucking tired of resting. I've been here for four days now, damn it."

"Seven if you include when you were out," Perseus said.

"I'm not some goddamned kid. I don't need babysitting."

"Don't be stubborn, Ingrid," Athena said, standing over her bed with her arms across her chest. "You almost died. What good are you gonna be to your team if you don't recover fully?"

Ingrid threw her head back, staring at the ceiling. What team? There were no three-person teams at Beacon Academy.

"Where's Lilly?" Ingrid asked, noticing her team leader missing.

"Said she had something to do," Leon said.

"That's not like her."

"Yeah, well, I guess we all deal with this kind of shit in our own ways."

She sighed, laying her forearm over her eyes.

"You want a smoothie?" Athena said. "I'm gonna go grab some smoothies for everybody."

"I'll help," Echo said.

"Text me your guys' orders."

A minute of silence went by.

"If that really was my family's company," Perseus began.

"Don't start," Ingrid said. "That wasn't your doing."

"Maybe not, but it's my fucking family. I always thought they'd pull something completely fucking stupid eventually, but this? Are they trying to start a war?"

"Let's pray that's not the case," Xanthus said. "I spoke with Penny and the professors about all this and they're pushing for a diplomatic solution, of course."

"The problem is we don't even know what they're after," Perseus said. "Fuck, _I_ don't know what they're after. As far as I know, Jupiter Enterprises' beef is with the Schnee Dust Company. Vale has nothing to do with any of this."

"They might be attempting to establish a staging point. This is typical in early pre-war preparations."

They watched as Leon scooted his chair closer to Ingrid's bed. Her eyes were closed, but they all knew she wasn't sleeping. Her childhood friend reached for her hand, holding it in his. A tear rolled down the side of her head and Leon wiped it away.

"I know this isn't what you wanna hear right now," he said quietly as he kissed her fingers. "But things will end up okay. He's gonna wake up tomorrow and make you pancakes and sushi like he always does."

She took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out slowly.

"Just you wait, Ingrid. Yuan's a tough motherfucker. He'll pull through just fine."

Even though he was correct that this wasn't what she wanted to hear right now, hearing it from him made it feel like things really would be okay. But in spite of all that, she couldn't get out of her mind the blank look on Yuan's face just before she lost consciousness that day.

—

Echo turned to Athena as they waited for their order of smoothies. The latter leaned her elbow on the table, watching as Vale's citizens walked by, oblivious to what was going on in the world. Perhaps that was for the best. Negativity would bring the Grimm down on the city like a swarm of locusts.

"Athena," Echo said.

APEX's team leader turned to her, midnight blue eyes locking with pale green hazels. Echo found herself dumbstruck. A breeze caught Athena's long, golden hair, which she wore down today instead of the usual ponytail. Her hair went in all sorts of directions, untamed, yet not something one could call completely wild. It had quite the volume to it as well, very different from Echo's mostly flat hair.

"Don't you miss all those locks?" Athena said.

"Kinda," Echo said, looking down to try and get her dark brown, chin-length hair to hide the redness on her face. "It's easier to take care of short hair, though."

"Shit, I know."

"They're...they're gonna be okay, right?"

"Of course they are. Yuan's a tough motherfucker and Ingrid's Ingrid. She might be even tougher than all of us."

"I...I don't know about that part. She hides it, but Ingrid's a lot more sensitive than we all give her credit for."

Athena chuckled. "So, you noticed that, too, huh?"

Echo looked at her partner.

"You're right. Ingrid is a softie. But when it comes down to it, she's reliable. They will recover from this. Both of them."

Echo reflected on that day so long ago when Athena nearly lost her own life to those Omega Grimm. Hearing her scream and seeing that spear jutting from her back was the most horrifying thing Echo had ever experienced. She didn't know if she could survive what Ingrid and Yuan were going through right now. Athena was only out of commission for a day. Yuan had been unconscious for just about a week now and Ingrid was still in physical therapy.

"Athena," Echo said, looking at the table.

Athena didn't answer, awaiting Echo instead.

"I..."

The team's leader maintained her silence, giving her teammate and partner a chance to put together what she wanted to say.

"Is it okay, Athena?" Echo finally said, looking deeply into her partner's eyes. "If I stay with you?"

"That's not even a question, Echo," Athena said.

"No. I mean...is it okay if I stay with you...forever?"

Athena let a few moments pass before reaching across the table to touch hands with her partner. Echo felt a shiver run up and down her entire body as Athena's warm grasp made its way from her hands to her heart.

"Echo," Athena said, making the latter's heart skip a beat. "Come sit with me."

Echo swallowed hard before getting up, her legs trembling as she scooted along the circular bench toward Athena, who took her hand and locked fingers with her. The feeling made Echo's heart stop beating altogether. Was this it? Was it really happening now? Butterflies were going crazy in her stomach, but at the same time she could not deny that opening her heart to another person might only set herself up for more tragedy later on down the line. But as Athena scooted closer to her, wiping out the gap between them, Echo stopped caring about any of that.

Her doubts vanished the instant Athena's lips touched hers. Echo had never tasted anything so sweet in her life. She was so overcome that a tear fell down her cheek and she held her breath longer than she should have.

"What's wrong?" Athena said, pulling away from a panting Echo.

"N-Nothing," Echo said, wiping away her tear and taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "That was..." She searched her mind for a fancy word to use, something that could capture what swirled around in her heart right this moment, but only one word would come to her. "...That was perfect."

Athena smiled at her, leaning in again to give her another gentle kiss on the lips. Echo found her hand moving to her partner's waist as Athena's moved up to her shoulder and neck, tickling the hairs on the back.

"Our smoothies are probably done," Athena said, softly rubbing her nose against Echo's.

"Y-Yeah," Echo said, leaning away from her, but Athena's grasp wouldn't let her get too far.

They shared in another passionate kiss before Athena took the reins and went to retrieve their group's smoothies. Echo's hands and knees shook as she held the cup tray. She was afraid she'd drop it, or worse, trip over herself and fall face-first into the smoothies. Her body was on fire, hotter than the surface of the sun. Did that really just happen? It must have. There's no other reason why her heart would be pounding like it was now.

"You're not gonna faint on me, are you?" Athena said, snapping her out of her trance.

"Huh? N-No, I'm okay," Echo said.

"Because if you do, I _will_ catch you, and I _will_ carry you all the way up."

"You're making it worse, you know. I think I really will faint now."

"Well, I wasn't kidding about catching you."

This was a girl Echo was willing to follow, someone who knew what she wanted and didn't hesitate to go out and get it. Echo did not mind one bit accompanying her into whatever she wanted to do. Even if it meant marching right through the gates of hell, Echo would be there.

 _I think I really am in love with you._

She hadn't said those words aloud, but merely thinking them was a start. She'd get there eventually. She'd figure out a way to actually verbalize her feelings for her. Although she figured that was no longer necessary. After all, kisses spoke louder than words.

—

"Okay," Ingrid's therapist said. "I think you're ready to graduate."

Ingrid was panting. The physical exertion wasn't what got to her. Walking and moving her muscles was as easy as it was before her injury. The exhaustion originated from her mind. She had the freedom to walk around on her own two feet now, but not him, not the man who had saved her life. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair at all. Why did she get to be free while he was trapped in his own mind?

"Is it..." she began, holding tears back. "Is it okay if I see him?"

"Sure," her therapist said. "But make sure to do whatever the nurse asks you to do, even if that means you have to leave."

She nodded before exiting the room. Her body was still sore, but her aura healed any major injuries. Still, she would probably be out of commission for another week. She limped over to his room, eyes opening wide. Could she trust her sight? Was this real? Was she imagining it?

"Y...Yuan?" she said, barely audible. She limped faster toward his room and went straight to the door, swinging it open.

"Mister Ren, please," the nurse said, bracing him. "You've got to get back in bed. You're in no condition to stand up right now. You've been in a coma for a whole week."

"A...week?" he managed.

Ingrid's heart skipped a beat. His voice was awfully feeble, but just hearing it again made tears cloud her vision.

"Yuan?" she said meekly.

He turned to her, managing a weak smile before grimacing.

"Ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave—"

"No, it's okay," Yuan interrupted the nurse.

"Mister Ren, you need rest."

"I know. It's just...I need to see her."

The nurse looked over at Ingrid, whose piteous face told her all she needed to know. She turned back to Yuan. "Okay, but make it quick. I don't want you losing consciousness again and injuring yourself or something. Your aura's up, but you've been healing really slowly."

He smiled as he looked at the ground. Physical healing wasn't what he needed at all. There was something else. A dream, perhaps. No, it was too vivid to be a dream.

"Yuan," Ingrid said as she hurried over, throwing herself on him.

Her affection surprised him more than anything, but he found himself returning it, wrapping his arms around her as she did the same.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said.

Ingrid pulled away from him, her cat ears matching the furious look on her face.

"Don't you ever do anything that stupid ever again!" she screamed.

"Ingrid..."

"I don't want you _ever_ to do that!"

He didn't answer.

"Swear to me!"

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because. I just can't."

"I don't want you throwing your life away like that!"

He turned away from her momentarily before looking back into her amber eyes. "There are some things in life that are worth dying for, Ingrid. You're one of them."

Her heart stopped.

"I would die a thousand times for you, Ingrid."

"Shut up," she growled, balling her fists and squeezing her eyes shut. "Just shut up."

"I mean it."

"I don't care!" She threw her arms around him, holding him so tightly that it hurt. "I don't ever want to see you like that ever again!"

He closed his eyes, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know if I could have gone on...if you hadn't woken up..."

"Don't say that, Ingrid," he said. "You're a strong woman."

"I'm not as strong as you all think I am..."

"I don't believe that."

But her sentiments were sincere. She was the heiress to a legacy. Her mother was now the leader of all of Menagerie, her father the former headmaster of Shade Academy and now leader of Menagerie's security forces. Her grandfather was also once the former chieftain of the settlement. Ingrid had enormous shoes to fill. And yet, despite all of her achievements thus far, she always felt as though she fell short of them. She stood on the shoulders of giants. She could not even compare to them.

Yuan held her at arm's length, his jade eyes connecting deeply with her ambers. He brushed a lock out of her face with a finger, giving her a smile despite the physical pain his body was in.

"Ingrid," he said in a near-whisper. "Is it okay if I kiss you?"

If she wasn't red before, she certainly was now. Ignoring a pounding pulse and a mind going all over the place, she leaned forward, closing her eyes as her lips touched his. Just like that, all of her doubts departed her, leaving behind a firm sense of elation and tranquility. It felt as though their souls were connecting them into a single being. Or perhaps that was his Semblance acting according to his subconscious will.

"Are you doing that?" she asked, pulling back just enough to see his jade eyes.

"Doing what?" he said.

"That...thing, with your aura."

The look on his face was one of confusion.

"Never mind," she chuckled. "I must be imagining things."

"Oh."

"I should probably get outta here. You still have to rest."

Something was strange, though. Yuan felt as though nearly all of his strength had just come back. Curiosity got the better of him and he got off the bed, standing up straight and tall. Ingrid's eyes were wide open as she looked up at him.

"What...?" she managed.

"Huh," he said. "Weird. I could've sworn I couldn't even stand just now."

Before he could take a step forward, though, he started to get dizzy, but Ingrid was there to catch him, carefully lowering him back to his bed.

"Don't get all cocky now," she chuckled.

He chuckled as well, but as he started to lay back down, his elbow slipped from underneath and he fell, bringing Ingrid down with him. She rapidly propped herself up above him, staring down into an equally red and startled Yuan. Somehow, in the midst of that commotion, she managed to end up straddling him and now she was frozen.

"Uh," Yuan managed.

"I should probably go," she said, preparing to leave, but his hand went to her wrist and she slowly turned back to him. His eyes were filled with sincerity.

"You don't...actually have to leave."

Her whole body was hot now, her heart pounding in her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The nurse would probably flip if she came in and saw them right now, but for some reason, Ingrid didn't really care.

She gave him a small smile before laying down on top of him, placing her ear right over his chest to listen to his strong heartbeat. She closed her eyes as he placed one hand on her shoulder, the other clasping her free hand. She laced her fingers with his before allowing the rhythm of his heart and breathing to lull her to sleep.

Meanwhile, Lilly had been outside the room the whole time, peeking through the window as her two friends were reunited. It was another job well done. She smiled to herself, leaving the two to be alone at least for the day.

—

"Good to have you back, motherfucker!" Leon said, giving Yuan a hard slap on the back.

"I might have healed fully," he said, "but your slaps don't hurt any less than they did before."

His partner laughed. "Just tryin'a show you some manly love, bro!"

"Two weeks out of commission is way too long," Perseus said, bumping fists with Yuan. "You think you'll be up to snuff for the tournament? It's less than a month away, you know."

"I'll be fine," he said.

"Of course he will be fine," Xanthus said, shaking hands with him.

"That's right," Athena said as she and Echo gave him hugs. "The Last Aura Bender won't disappear when his team needs him most."

Yuan looked over at Lilly, who had been quiet this whole time. She wore her signature smile, which, as always, was contagious. He gave his team leader a salute before she ran to him and gave him a long embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered into her ear.

"For?" she whispered back.

"I think you know."

"Training halls, anybody?" Athena said.

"Yes," Yuan said. "My body is getting stiff. I think I need the exercise."

"We should have a team battle right off the bat," Perseus said, pulling out his scroll to notify Penny.

As the rest of the team headed toward the training halls, Yuan glanced back at Ingrid, who lagged behind. She smiled at him. He returned her smile, admiring the way the wind caught her long, black hair and tossed it to the side, revealing the lapis lazuli earrings he had gifted her on her birthday. She joined him and they walked shoulder to shoulder all the way to the training halls.

—

Penny let out a heavy sigh of relief as she read Perseus's text message. Yuan was back on his feet. Everything would be okay again.

Except that it wouldn't be okay, not with the looming war on the horizon. This year's Vytal festival would be a unique one. Jupiter Enterprises and the Schnee Dust Company, and by extension their home countries, would be on the same stage together. And even though the primary purpose of the event was to show solidarity between the nations, that there was a tournament involved symbolized the constant competition and tension between the four kingdoms.

Add to that the resurgence of the Labyrinths and Penny could already see the disaster brewing on the horizon.

She was about to put her scroll away when she got another text message. Her heart filled with all sorts of emotions as she read the sender's name. The message didn't even matter at this point. This was the first communication she'd had with him in three years. Most of that was her fault, of course. She was the idiot who stormed out on him because of one stupid misunderstanding.

She sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she opened the message.

 _We're one member short. Would you like to join us?_

Again, her heart clouded with conflicting emotions. Of course she wanted to join them. She was eager to see him again, to hear him again, to listen to his silly laughter and that peculiar way he spoke again. But _she_ would be on the team as well. There was no doubt about that. Penny could already see it. Her enthusiasm would be completely overshadowed by those stupid feelings of jealousy and insecurity.

She pocketed her scroll without replying to the message, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to push those emotions out of her mind. She had a job to do right now and she couldn't be distracted. She left her office and headed to the training halls.

—

"Not bad for a dead man!" Perseus said, blocking a lightning strike from Yuan's weapon with his shield.

"I am walking dead," Yuan said, spinning his Heaven Scorcher around before dashing forward alongside Leon. "Get it right."

Lilly giggled before joining Ingrid to attack Echo and Athena. They ended their scuffle after only a brief bout, facing off against them with only twenty yards separating the duos.

"Tell me something," Ingrid said. "You've been really quiet lately. Why's that?"

"You're imagining things!" Lilly said before projecting an Ice Dust attack at Athena and Echo, the first of whom blocked the attack with her shield before Echo countered with a Fire Dust arrow, which Ingrid blocked with an Earth Dust shadow clone.

"Not imagining anything at all," Ingrid said. "You've been quiet lately. And, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been avoiding us this past week."

"Just getting some private lessons in with Penny," Lilly said. She couldn't very well tell her partner that she had been making incursions into that parallel world by herself. Not only would that worry her to no end, she might also try to follow, which she couldn't permit, not with the dangers present in that foreign domain.

Athena threw her shield before attacking, but Ingrid deflected the flying disk before engaging her in a battle of spears. Echo and Lilly exchanged a number of projectiles before they ended in another face-off to reorganize and recuperate.

"I see," Ingrid said. "What have you been learning?"

"Oh, you know," Lilly said. "Stuff."

"Stuff, huh?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Echo," Athena said.

"Do the thing?" Echo said.

"Do the thing."

"Hooah," Echo said before nocking an Explosive Dust arrow, whose power was so great that she had to arm it before she could even use it.

"Uh-oh," Lilly said.

"We should probably run," Ingrid said.

Echo let the arrow soar. This particular projectile was armed with an airburst timer and the instant it was within range, it exploded, sending Lilly and Ingrid flying in two separate directions. They were far enough away from the blast to not have their auras completely knocked out, but the concussion still had its effect on them.

"Ow," Lilly said, rubbing her head. She turned to face Athena, who was closing in quickly. Without another thought, Lilly aimed Myrtenaster at her opponent and a rune appeared in the air.

Athena gasped before holding up her shield to block the massive rock spear that materialized from Lilly's rune. The force was enough to completely stop her forward movement, but her shield probably saved her hide just now.

 _Thank you, Aegis,_ she thought, looking at her shield. Her arm felt like as though she had just punched a slab of concrete, but at least her body was intact. She looked over Aegis to Lilly, who was holding Myrtenaster out at her, ready to continue the battle. Athena had never thought Lilly would have progressed so much in such little time. The school year wasn't even finished and this girl was easily among the top five now.

Still, the Golden Girl of Vale was not going to be outdone, not even by the daughter of the Silver Maiden.

"I guess I should stop holding back on you," Athena said, keeping her shield up.

"You probably should," Lilly said with a smirk.

"Here I come!"

Lilly was surprised at Athena's speed. Even though the latter was the best first-year student for the entire duration of their tenure at Beacon, she never once slowed down. As much as everyone else around improved, Athena also continued her journey toward perfection.

Athena's striking speed was amazing, but Lilly would not be overwhelmed so easily. She countered with all sorts of runic projections, walls of rock or ice, powerful gusts of wind, lightning strikes, and even waves of fire, but none of them worked on Athena. She was far too adept with her Semblance, using her spear with both hands for greater power strokes while her shield orbited her by the power of her ferromagnetism, blocking Lilly's attacks no matter what direction they came from.

Athena closed the gap between them and the battle shifted into a close quarters fight. Lilly found herself outpaced and outmatched by a wide margin, only managing to evade and deflect her attacks. That shield continued to float around her as well, acting as both an extra defensive and offensive implement.

 _It's now or never!_ Lilly thought as she summoned the power that she had been nurturing for the past month with her repeated solo excursions into that parallel world.

" _Gehärtete Verteidigung_!"

"What?"

" _Stahl Knöchel_!"

Athena stopped her assault, shielding her eyes as Lilly was bathed in a brownish glow. She wasn't sure what exactly happened, but she spotted a brown, rune-like holographic projection in the air slowly fading away. Whatever Lilly just did, it must have been to herself, given the way she glowed.

"Yo, what's going on?" Leon said as they stopped to watch the duel.

"I don't know," Xanthus said as he and Perseus joined Leon and Yuan.

"Looks like she's getting the hang of her new power," Ingrid said. She glanced over at Echo, who was starry eyed, her fists held in front of her chin. "Dude, what in the world are you so excited about?"

" _All_ the things!" Echo squealed. "She is _so cool_!"

"Like in those animes, right?" Perseus chuckled.

"Fuck yeah!"

"I don't exactly know what you have up your sleeve right now," Athena began, squaring off with Lilly, "but don't think for one second that a little magic trick is gonna make you number one."

"Oh, don't worry," Lilly said. "I know better than to underestimate Athena Rose."

They both grinned. Athena's charge was quick, almost too quick for the human eye to follow, but she was still nowhere near the same level as Penny, who watched their every movement as they sparred. She had given them everything they needed to know, particularly Lilly. What that girl needed more than anything was self-confidence. And it seemed that she had found it. Whatever it was Lilly had done to herself, it enabled her to match Athena pound for pound, her speed nearly identical, her blows just as powerful, and her durability equally matching.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing," Perseus said, his mouth open. "Did she just take a hit on the chin from Athena's shield?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what just happened," Xanthus said. "But I can't believe it either."

Yuan continued to closely observe Lilly's every movement. Contrary to what the rest of the group thought, he wasn't studying her combat style. There was something bizarrely familiar about the way she fought. He had seen this before, sensed this power before. It wasn't until she cast a powerful combination fire-lightning blast that he realized what it was.

"Holy shit!" Athena said, her shield and aura barely withstanding the intense dual elemental attack.

That last one drained Lilly of all her power and she fell to the ground as something around her broke. It wasn't her aura, though. It was something else, as if an invisible shell of energy that had been surrounding her all this time finally shattered like glass. Athena recognized the brownish color. It was that same light that had enveloped her at the start of their battle.

"Lilly!" Athena said, rushing to her.

"I'm okay," she panted.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

" _That_. You know, how you kept up with me for the last five minutes."

"I know."

"Huh?"

"Five minutes is as long as I can keep it up. Any longer than that and I'm no good in a fight."

Athena looked at her questioningly. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lilly leaned back against her arms, looking up to the ceiling to try and expand her lungs so she could get air in them.

"Not bad," Penny said, slowly clapping as she approached them.

"Still," Lilly said. "I can't use this power without tiring myself out."

"The fact that you can use the power alone already puts you at a huge advantage."

"A match at the Vytal Festival is way longer than five minutes, isn't it?"

"Depends on your opponents. Personally, I believe Team LILY can steamroll its way to the finals."

"Unless we run into Team APEX on the way there," Leon said as the group joined them.

"You're making me blush," Perseus said.

"Psh."

"I think it's time for a break," Penny said. "You've all been at it for a half hour straight already and—"

"No, I think we can keep going," Lilly said, glancing at her team. "We still have a lot of energy to burn."

Penny looked around the group. No one objected. "If you insist," she said, "but remember that it's also important to pace yourselves."

"I know what we can do," Perseus said with a grin. "Do you remember your offer, Penny?"

"My offer?"

"Yeah. The one you made after our pillow war."

"I do recall you saying something along the lines of 'Penny vs. all of Team LILY and APEX'," Xanthus said as he pushed up his glasses.

"Did you just say the other team's name first?" Athena said, putting both fists on her hips.

"I, uh, I mean—"

"Of course we come first," Leon said with a grin, mock-pushing up non-existent glasses. Lilly and Ingrid were instantly to either side of him, leaning backward against his shoulders with their arms folded across their chests.

"Oh, brother," Echo said, rolling her eyes.

"Well," Penny began, "if you eight really think you can do it, then okay. Just land one hit on me and we'll call it a victory in your court."

—

"Oh, my god, my whole body hurts," Perseus said, rotating his shoulders.

"It was _your_ stupid idea to take on Penny of all people!" Athena said.

"I am _so_ tired!" Lilly sighed.

"I think I'm gonna pass out now, thanks," Leon said.

Penny couldn't help but giggle. "Look on the bright side," she said. "You guys won."

"Yeah, _barely_ ," Ingrid said. "How the hell do you even move that fast?"

Xanthus shared a quick glance with Penny, remembering her request to keep her secret a secret. "She's a professional Huntress, after all," he said, pushing up his glasses.

"But even grandpa Qrow doesn't move that fast," Leon said.

"The key word there is _grandpa_ ," Perseus said.

While the rest of the group continued to converse on the way to the campus café, Yuan lagged behind with Lilly.

"That was you, wasn't it?" he said to his team leader.

She turned to him without a word.

"You were the one I saw in my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

He nodded. "The reason I could not wake up was because I thought I had failed to save Ingrid. But you entered my dreams and showed me that I was wrong, that Ingrid was alive and well."

She didn't answer right away.

"It was the same as that one time you disappeared, wasn't it? Earlier this month? Or last month. Is it June already?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, it's June. You _have_ been out for a while, you know."

"Hmm. What was it like? My dream world, I mean. You said that Mizuki's was very dreary."

"Yours wasn't as visceral. It was really difficult to distinguish from the real world, other than a constant overcast...and lots of bars over windows and a lot of sealed off doors."

"I see." He paused for a moment. "And you've been going through this other world, haven't you?"

She didn't answer.

"It must be dangerous. Is that why you won't tell the rest of us about it?"

"Yuan."

"It's okay, Lilly. I won't question your motives or your reasons for keeping it from everyone. I just wish to let you know that you are not an island. You have a team. Use us."

She smiled. "I know. And I need you guys most for the upcoming tournament."

"If that's what you require of your team, then I will not question."

"Yup! Now, get over there and walk with Ingrid cuz Leon keeps bothering her!"

He chuckled before doing as she commanded. Lilly continued to lag behind, watching their whole circle of friends as they laughed and talked and reminisced. She could not involve them in her excursions into that other world. Yuan was correct in his assessment that it was dangerous. It was _extremely_ dangerous. The only thing that kept her alive in that other world was her magic, these runes that were somehow so much more effective in that world.

She looked at her hand, trying to will one of the runes, but out here, it was far more difficult and she was too exhausted from their training to bring it out.

"Lilly!"

She looked up to see the group stopped way ahead of her. It was Athena calling out to her.

"The heck are you doing all the way back there?"

"C'mon!" Leon said, his hand on his hip.

She admired how the sunlight hit his hair, making it glow more red at the tips than usual. His black and red coat fluttered as a small breeze caught it. She let a smile form on her face before skipping up to her group and walking in the middle all the way to the café.


	26. Chapter XXVI

CHAPTER XXVI

 _The Golden Girl of Vale_

Athena examined herself in a mirror as she geared up for a training match. July was only a week away and these days were all they had to prepare for the tournament. The confirmed teams that would represent Beacon Academy included four from the first-year class, Teams APEX, LILY, ORNJ, and PDTR, eliminating even some fourth-year competitors that were slated to be selected early in the school year. The third-year class yielded Teams SQRL and GOTE, while both the second-year and fourth-year classes offered one team each.

"Ready?" Perseus said, standing next to her along with Echo and Xanthus.

Athena looked at her team. Everyone was armed and ready to go. She gave them a single nod before leading the way to the training hall, where they would participate in what was essentially a mock tournament, complete with team matches and solo duels. This was exactly what Athena had trained for all her life. She didn't get her title for no reason. She was the best at Signal and making her way to the top of Beacon, if she wasn't there already.

She looked at her spear and shield for a moment, saying a short prayer to both. Pallas's reach was unrivaled and Aegis was unbreakable. Combined with her ferromagnetism Semblance, she and her two implements were a single, unified weapon system. The three at her back were no different. Though four individuals, working in tandem, they formed the perfect team.

The first match was against Team PDTR. This quartet was the most aggressive out of the four first-year teams, probably the most aggressive in all of Beacon. Their strategies involved opening up with blitzes, the clear goal to overpower and overwhelm their opponents without giving them any time to work out a strategy. It was an extremely effective maneuver and every single member of the team was well-suited to the task, particularly Demetri Holland, who, despite his use of gauntlets, was so quick as to close the gap between him and his opponent in record time. She needed to be careful of him. His gauntlets were equipped with a chain grappling system which he used with incredible tactical effectiveness.

The other members were just as dangerous. Paolo, despite his constant debonair style, was a formidable opponent. He wasn't team leader for nothing. Most of their strategies and tactics were formulated by none other than himself, though the others also had their own ideas, which he was very much open to. He understood better than most the importance of team solidarity and that was one thing Team PDTR excelled at.

"I guess we should pick our pairs now," Theo suggested as the two teams walked up to the center of the ring. "It makes perfect sense for Paolo to take on Athena, since they're both spearmen. I've got a sword and shield. Perseus, shall we dance?"

"Sure," Perseus said, feigning disinterest. "I've got nothing better to do."

"I guess that leaves you and me," Demetri said to Xanthus. "Dual-wielder against dual-wielder."

Raiden eyed Echo, who took note of his lack of visible weaponry. He was the most memorable out of all of Team PDTR for his unconventional fighting style. Rather than sticking to a staple weapon, he specialized in throwing knives, with which he was so accurate that he could nail a flying nevermore right in the neck. It was impossible to tell just how many he had left underneath that cloak as well, particularly because he made it a habit of retrieving his thrown projectiles.

Echo had also seen him in close combat as well. Along with the potentially dozens of throwing knives he had under there, he also possessed at least two combat knives, with which he was lethal enough to take down an Ursa Major with fewer than ten strikes. She needed to be careful of him.

Assistant Headmaster Goodwitch sounded the start of the match, upon which Team PDTR wasted no time in proceeding with a frontal assault. Athena led her own team forward, flanked by both Perseus and Xanthus while Echo fired arrow after arrow at their opponents. The formations quickly broke as Echo continued to harass the opposing team with arrows so precisely launched that she was able to send them soaring between her own teammates without hitting them and striking her opponents.

"Raiden!" Paolo yelled to his teammate, who, without a word, broke from the melee and went after Echo to suppress her ranged support fire.

The team's archer found herself dodging flying knives while returning fire with arrows. It came to a point where both were dodging projectiles from mere feet away from each other. Echo noticed him reaching for his two combat knives and she quickly transformed Sentinel into a staff and engaged him in close combat, barely dodging what appeared to be an assassination strike from her opponent.

"Your team's pretty good," Paolo said as he clashed spears with Athena. "It's no wonder they call you the Golden Girl of Vale. Or is that just because of your beautiful hair?"

"It's my hair," she said with a smirk before redirecting his spear and swinging with her shield, only barely missing his face.

Team LILY was seated at ringside, each one observing the fight closely. Not only was it possible that they would face each other in the tournament, it was also a good idea to take notes from two of the best teams on campus, how they responded to what tactics the other team threw, how effective each tactic was against other tactics, among other things.

"APEX's teamwork is tight," Leon said as the match devolved before reorganizing under Athena's command.

"She has complete control over the battle," Ingrid said. "And PDTR doesn't even realize it."

Yuan looked over at Lilly. The smile she usually wore was gone, replaced by an intensity that was reserved for hardened soldiers. She must have been modeling what Athena was doing. That made no sense, though. Teams LILY and APEX operated in completely different ways. While Athena was strict with keeping their formations in order, Lilly was the opposite type of leader, placing absolute trust in her teammates' ability to adapt and adjust to any situation, granting them nearly total freedom and discretion. More often than not, this led to some awkward positions where they couldn't figure out what to do, but their team instinct was growing quickly and all four would regularly synergize with near perfect unity in the midst of battle even without any planning in advance. For practical purposes, this made them no different from Team APEX in their combat effectiveness.

"What do you think she's thinking?" Leon asked Yuan.

"I'm not sure," he said, considering the fact that Lilly had begun to get better with her rune power, which she had yet to employ in any of their training matches thus far. She continued to rely on her Dust cartridges loaded into Myrtenaster instead. Perhaps it was her way of hiding a trump card. That wasn't her, though. It was far more likely that she still hadn't mastered it enough to be able to use it effectively in a real match, instead nurturing a more reliable method of attack.

But there was also something that bothered Yuan deeply. He was the only one who knew of her regular excursions into that parallel world, where she would fight monsters and such in order to defeat other people's inner demons. He had absolutely no idea as to the nature of that world, whether it was safe for her or extremely dangerous, whether she was being smart about her approaches or totally reckless. Yuan wasn't one to doubt his leader, though. The fact that she was still alive and sitting here with them told him that she knew what she was doing. He only wished she could trust in her team more.

Or perhaps she was sparing them from whatever horrors that place had to offer. After all, ever since she began her excursions into that world, she seemed to change as a person, growing less and less cheery and more and more severe, as though a heavy weight were placed upon her shoulders, one even heavier than the legacy of the Schnee name.

"Shit," Leon said, standing up with Ingrid as the match between Team PDTR and APEX reached a critical point. Echo had just had her aura depleted below 15%, the threshold for defeat in the tournament. She was out of the match. Xanthus took a hard hit from both Raiden and Demetri, who worked together to knock him out of the ring. It was now all of PDTR against Athena and Perseus. The latter didn't last long with Demetri, Theo, and Raiden pummeling him to the point that his aura broke.

"That's some control," Yuan said, referring to the fact that the three PDTR members stopped their assault the moment Perseus's aura broke, keeping themselves from injuring him.

"Yeah, they're not on the tourney roster for no reason," Leon said.

Lilly was on her feet now as well. Athena's face was stern, reflecting the perfect focus of the Golden Girl of Vale. This exact scenario was what she was so well-known for, to be faced with insurmountable odds and come out on top no matter what.

Team PDTR approached her carefully, maintaining formation. This team wasn't filled with morons. They all knew what she was capable of and just how powerful her Semblance was. At any moment, she could commandeer even their weapons and use them against their own wielders. Her Semblance's only weakness was the inability to control more than two objects at a time.

To everyone's surprise, Athena was the one to attack first, hurling her spear at Theo, who blocked the powerful strike with his shield, which rang with the force of the impact. Her spear came right back to her, courtesy of her Semblance.

Raiden threw one knife after another at her, but she didn't need to block with her shield. Even as she fought Paolo spear to spear, her awareness of her surroundings was so keen that she was able to use her Semblance to alter the course of each of the throwing knives mid-flight, preventing any from hitting her.

"Why does she keep going after Paolo?" Theo said, still recovering from that intensely hard hit from her spear.

"She's trying to take out our leader," Demetri said. "C'mon!"

Before they could even engage, she had thrown her shield at them, which bounced off of Theo's own shield and Demetri's gauntlets. Even as all of this was happening, she continued to magnetically deflect each and every one of Raiden's throwing knives.

"Heh," Paolo said, exchanging strikes with Athena. "It's no wonder you're at the top of the roster. Honestly, I don't mind getting taken out by the best."

She grinned.

"So, I just gotta ask. Why wait? You could've taken us out a long time ago. Fighting you is like fighting four people at once."

She didn't respond, at least not verbally. She swiftly redirected Paolo's spear before trapping it on the ground and striking him on the head with enough force to instantly shatter his aura. Without even a split second wasted, she turned her attention to Demetri, focusing all of her offensive power on him. She hurled her shield, knocking him off balance and using her Semblance to redirect it at the other two while she lunged at Demetri with enough power to force him out of the ring.

Displaying her fighting prowess once more, she outmaneuvered the attacking Theo and went straight for Raiden, who pulled out his combat knives to engage her in close range. Before reaching him, though, she twirled around and throw both spear and shield at Theo, fighting both opponents simultaneously, using her Semblance to do battle with Theo as she engaged Raiden hand to hand, avoiding his knife strikes while whittling down his aura with merciless pugilism. She eventually landed an uppercut to his chin, sending him flying as his aura broke.

She turned back to Theo, who found it impossible to fight against a floating sword and shield with no wielder to strike. She recalled both Pallas and Aegis back to her side and attacked, ultimately overwhelming an already exhausted Theo, forcing him to his knees as his aura failed. He looked up to face the point of her spear.

"Fucking hell," he panted, standing up. "I've seen your videos, but that was just, something else completely."

"Good match," Paolo said, shaking her hand with a grin plastered on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Perseus asked him as they shook hands as well.

"It took Team APEX to take us out. That's what I'm happy about."

"You don't mind being second place?" Echo said, her arms crossed.

"Not when first place has Athena Rose on it."

"This was pretty much what I expected from Team APEX," Demetri said, shaking hands with Xanthus. "But what I really want to see is Team APEX against Team IVRY."

"Team who?" Athena said.

"Team IVRY," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "They are a third-year team from Atlas, currently holding the undefeated record at their academy."

"Basically Team APEX except third-year," Paolo said. "Okay! Team LILY and Team ORNJ, it's your time to shine!"

—

"Hey, don't be so down in the dumps," Leon said to Lilly as they left the training hall to get some coffee.

She didn't answer, continuing to look straight ahead as she led the way. The others all exchanged glances. They each wanted to say something to cheer her up, _anything_ , but they all knew that this was something Lilly needed to do for herself. After all, this was nothing more than a repeat of the first week of classes, when she scored poorly on her tests.

"I know," Leon said. "Let's go play some videogames, get our minds off of it."

Lilly continued to maintain her silence, rigidly walking forward. Leon caught Ingrid's eyes. She was shaking her head in disappointment. He turned to her and threw his arms to either side in exasperation, mouthing out the words, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

She put a finger to her mouth, silently miming a "Shh!" to him.

He threw his head back in surrender and turned to the front, catching up with Lilly, who looked over to him before making eye contact with the rest of her team as well. She said nothing, but they all felt the ache in her heart. That disappointment at herself was tangible through her forlorn eyes.

Yuan joined her side. "Wanna run through some team tactics later on?" he said. "After we rest up with some coffee."

She looked up at him. She hadn't realized how tall he stood. She guessed he was maybe five-foot-ten, just an inch shorter than Leon.

"Team ORNJ's teamwork was spot on. It was no surprise they were able to isolate us individually and deplete our auras and knock Leon out of the ring."

"You're right," Lilly broke her silence. "I just...I never wanted to seem like I didn't trust you guys or anything like that."

"C'mon," Leon said. "You're our team leader. We _expect_ you to call the shots when necessary."

"Well, mostly it's because I didn't even know what shots to call. I guess I've been relying on you guys a little too much."

"It's good to rely on us," Ingrid said, "but having an overall battle plan is also important."

Lilly sighed. "You guys would have been so much better off with Athena."

"Hey," Leon said, barring her way with his arms across his chest. "Are you saying you wanna abandon us?"

"Huh? N-No, that's not what I'm saying at all."

"I'm just wondering. Because there's a lot of stuff you've been doing completely alone lately."

She didn't answer. Yuan also held his tongue, keeping his promise to her.

"You might think we're better off with my sister as our leader," Leon continued, "but the rest of us don't think so."

"Yeah," Ingrid said. "You're our captain for a reason. Because you understand us more than anyone else."

"She grew up with you guys, though—" Lilly began before Leon cut her off.

"That's enough," he said. "I won't hear another word about this crap. You're _not_ a bad leader, okay? If anything, you're the one that holds this entire team together. If it weren't for you, we'd be nothing more than four individuals fighting in the same battle at the same time. But it's you that each of us turns to when shit starts to get rough and it's at that instant, watching you fight on even in the worst possible situation, that we all get the strength we need to keep going. Sure, whatever, you might not have the tactical prowess or whatever my sister has, but you have something _no one else_ has. You have the heart."

She looked down at the ground.

"That won't do," Ingrid said. "Chin up, partner."

She slowly turned to Ingrid. She was smiling at her. That was all that was needed for Lilly Schnee's smile to gradually return to her face.

"It's been too long," Leon said. "I was starting to miss that smile."

She looked up at him. She had never seen that expression on his face before. It was a mixture of longing and melancholy with a tinge of hope underneath. She hadn't realized until now just how integral she was to this group. Her hopes and dreams were their hopes and dreams. The team bore her name for a reason.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "First, let's go get some coffee. I'm thirsty."

"You know that's just gonna dehydrate you, right?" Ingrid said.

"That's why you drink water after!"

She shared a chuckle with Leon and Yuan. Finally, they had their leader back. Perhaps they could make it in the tournament after all.

—

Lilly looked out the window as night fell. Everyone from their two teams was in their room tonight. The four boys started the videogame party before Echo joined in, replacing Xanthus as Perseus's teammate against Leon and Ingrid, the latter of whom had subbed in for Yuan.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Athena asked, standing next to Lilly.

"Just the moon," she said. "I wonder how it doesn't just float apart with all the pieces of it like that. Oh, right, gravity. That begs another question, though. How does it continue to float around like that instead of just falling back in place together?"

"You sound like Xanthus," Athena chuckled.

"Well," Lilly said, facing her and mock-pushing up non-existent glasses.

They shared a laugh before turning to Xanthus, who joined them at the window.

"What's so funny?" Xanthus asked before Athena reached over to push up his glasses. The two girls looked at each other and began laughing again.

"You dealt with Demetri's grappling hooks pretty well," Lilly said.

"Thank you. You know, Lilly, despite your loss against Team ORNJ, I must say that your team operates really well for going in with almost zero planning."

"It's not almost zero, dude," Leon said even as he concentrated on the racing game they were playing. "It's exactly zero."

"Even more impressive. Despite zero planning, the four of you are able to coordinate almost by instinct. As if your thoughts are all the same."

"Well," Lilly began, "it's really mostly us going in, me getting into trouble, and then the three of them bailing me out."

"We call that tactic the D.i.D.," Ingrid said.

"D.i.D.?" Xanthus said.

"Yeah," Leon said, "Damsel-in-Distress."

Chuckles went around the room.

"And the brave Knight of Roses comes to rescue his lady, huh?" Perseus said.

Ingrid turned to Leon, who was as red as his jacket.

"That's it," Leon said, "Get some."

"What?" Echo said.

"How the fuck?" Perseus said.

Leon had stolen first place from Perseus and Echo, who were neck and neck.

"Hash-tag-get-rekt, bitches," Leon said, dropping his controller on the carpet as the leaderboard showed up, placing him at the top.

"Hacker," Echo said, dropping her own controller and folding her arms across her chest.

"Don't be salty."

Lilly chuckled before looking back out the window. Yuan was the only one in the room who knew what was on her mind. She was thinking about how to get stronger. And the best place for her to do that would be in that other world, where she could train to her heart's content. The problem she didn't consider was that training herself was one thing. Training herself alongside her team was another thing altogether.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," Lilly said, throwing on a light sweater and heading out.

"I'll join you," Ingrid said.

"No, it's okay. I just need some time alone for a bit."

They all watched as she left the room.

"She's taking the loss pretty hard," Perseus said.

"She'll be fine," Yuan said, catching everyone's attention. "If anyone can get over a slump, it's her."

Of course, he withheld the reason he had such confidence in her. The others assumed he was thinking the same thing they were, that she wouldn't give up no matter what. While that was indeed true, Yuan figured she'd be in that parallel world again, training until she couldn't do anything else anymore. He only hoped that she wouldn't push herself too far.


	27. Chapter XXVII

CHAPTER XXVII

 _Homecoming_

"How was your exercise last night?" Yuan asked as he walked into their room, where Lilly was the only one still sleeping. He had offered to take breakfast up for her while the rest ate in the kitchen downstairs.

Lilly yawned before looking at her teammate with sleepy eyes.

"You didn't even greet anyone," he chuckled. "I do remember you crashing into your bed with quite the noise."

"I'm pooped," she said, sprawling on her bunk. She turned over to him. He was holding a plate for her. She sat up quickly, sniffing the pancakes, sausages, bacon, eggs, and toast. "Oooh, sourdough!"

"I know that's your favorite," he chuckled, handing the plate to her. "Just a smidgen of butter, exactly the way you like it."

She bit into the crunchy toast, catching the crumbs with the plate. "I'll never get tired of breakfast in bed."

He chuckled. "So. How was your training?"

She didn't answer for a bit, trying the over-easy eggs and approving before hopping off her bunk and dashing to the doorway to look down both ends of the hall. She shut the door behind her before taking a seat at their tiny table with Yuan.

"Did you eat already?" she asked him.

He nodded. There was silence for a bit while Lilly ate. She took a sip of the milk before setting everything down and looking straight ahead at nothing in particular.

"My target this time was a mom of four," she began her story, "and her husband. It was...I don't know how to describe it. These worlds, whatever they are, always reflect the hearts of whoever is at the core of it all. This was the first time I've ever gone into one of those worlds where everything was altered so drastically. I was literally walking through a gigantic dungeon, complete with torture chambers and everything."

"Torture chambers?" Yuan said.

Lilly nodded. "All replicas of the father, torturing replicas of the mother and their children in...I can't even describe the ways they were being tortured."

"It's okay. You don't have to relive it."

"I can't forget it either. This was the worst one I've ever been through."

"How did you solve it?"

"I don't think I have. Normally, there's only one copy of the person in question. I would cut them loose from their self-imposed prison, and they'd disappear, and the real-life counterpart of that person would be okay, completely freed from whatever it was that brought them despair. And then the world would collapse and I'd have to get out before it all came crashing down on me. But this time, none of that happened. It wasn't just the dad that kept attacking me. The mom and children would, too. And they'd all turn into monsters and stuff and I'd have to kill them, but the world never collapsed."

"So, it's still there."

She nodded. "I'm going back tonight. I need to save them."

"Lilly, you don't have to do this alone."

"I'm the only one who can cross over."

"How do you explain Ami, then?"

She didn't answer.

"She was in there with you, wasn't she?"

"I don't know. I can't explain that."

"I can go in with you, you know. I stand a better chance than an eight-year old girl."

"No, Yuan, just...just stay here with everyone else."

"Aside from the possible dangers, is there any other reason you absolutely have to do this alone? I do acknowledge that there's a possibility I won't be able to escape with you, which I don't think is true since you were able to get Ami out of there, however she got in to begin with."

She didn't answer. While the concerns for safety were true, she also could not get out of the back of her mind the thought that this was her burden to bear, and hers alone, as if her destiny was to go through these worlds and save the people trapped within them.

"Look," Yuan began, "if you won't accept our help, then fine. Your concerns about us not being able to get out are legitimate, but..." He searched for the words, but could not find them. A warm hand reached over to touch his. He looked into his leader's smiling face. That smile seemed to grow weaker and weaker as time went on. Whatever this world was she was crossing into, it was starting to take its toll on her heart.

"I'll be okay, Yuan," Lilly said. "I won't die in there. I know when to abandon a fight to come back and take care of it later."

"That's not what concerns me," he said.

She saw the look in his eyes, the part of him that worried not about her physical well-being, but that of her soul.

"Just...guard yourself closely, okay? This team, no, this whole group of friends—this _world_ —would not be the same without your light. Please, do remember that."

She watched as he walked out of the room with her dish and utensils. She looked down at the table for a moment before walking to the mirror. It had been a while since she stared at her own reflection, but the person gazing back at her was someone she didn't recognize. It was no wonder Yuan was so concerned for her. She sighed heavily before changing clothes and heading out.

—

It was no good. This one was impossible. There was no way Lilly was going to overcome such odds. She looked onward, gripping Myrtenaster tightly as thousands of unsightly horrors writhed toward her, each one threatening to smother her with their corruption. She stepped back, wondering where it all went wrong. She had done everything exactly the same as with all of the others. But here, there was no central room, no veins that enslaved the residents of this other world.

There was only this endless horde of twisted things before her now. The everlasting dungeon had crumbled away a long time ago, replacing itself with an unending field of death, decay, and torment. Lilly panted as the ache came back to her arm. She looked over. The blood had dried up by now, her cut closing thanks to the passive power of the Water Rune she had at her beck. Its healing properties were indispensable.

She held up Myrtenaster to project another Fire Rune at her enemies, but her strength had left her. She was in no state to continue fighting. She fell to her hands and knees, berating herself silently for her failure to save these people. She wanted to let them take her. This would be her atonement for her crimes against them.

But as the endless congregation began to encircle her, something within continued to fight on, to never surrender, not to the unsightly horrors nor to her own self-pity. It felt as though a fire burned deep down in her core, rising to the surface like a phoenix shedding the ashes of the darkness. When Lilly reopened her eyes, she was back in the real world, somewhere in the back alleys of downtown Vale.

She panted, glancing around herself. No one had witnessed her re-emergence into the physical domain. She hadn't expected anyone to. All of her incursions into that other world were deliberately made at night so as to minimize the chances of an innocent bystander getting involved.

She pounded on the floor with her fist, over and over again until her hand was numb. She watched as her teardrops fell to the concrete, painting it with her sorrow. The greatest burden upon her soul now was her utter helplessness to do anything for that family. It wasn't just the mother and her children who were in torment. The father was as well and he extended that torment to the rest of his family. If only she could save him— _at least him_ —she might be able to save them all.

But that wouldn't happen anymore, not with that drastic change in that world. It would be impossible to fight against that massive horde now. What had she done wrong?

She stood up, taking a few steps toward the street before she collapsed against the wall. She pulled Myrtenaster up to her face to look at it.

 _Mom,_ she thought as her eyes clouded over. _You were a hero who saved the entire world. I can't even manage to save a single family. How could I possibly live up to your name?_

She looked up to the sky. The moon showed its broken side tonight. It was the perfect reflection of the state of her own heart. She tucked Myrtenaster under her belt before making the long, lonely walk back to campus, where she would get changed and washed in the training hall locker room before sneaking back into their dorm while the world continued to slumber.

Everything was normal as she silently crept into bed. She had gotten so good at this that she rivaled even Ingrid's and Echo's stealth by now. Tonight would not be a restful night, however. Lilly would spend all of it curled up into a ball, muffling her own sobbing with a pillow that she soaked with her tears.

—

Team LILY and APEX looked around in awe and excitement as the skies filled with a vast array of shuttles from all around the globe. This year's Vytal Festival was expected to be the largest ever, with a record number of visitors from Menagerie. Rumor had it that a special announcement was to be made and tens of thousands gathered to participate in the making of history.

"And the dick measuring contest is about to begin," Perseus sighed, eyeing the vast Jupiter Fleet closing in from the west.

"Hmm?" Athena said.

"I think he's referring to that," Yuan said, pointing to the Atlas Fleet approaching from the north.

"Oh, they're gonna be doing their new robot display, aren't they?" Leon said before remembering that Yuan and Ingrid had been nearly killed by what was suspected to be Jupiter soldiers.

"Yeah," Perseus said with a heavy sigh.

Leon threw a hand on his shoulder. "You had jack shit to do with what Ingrid and Yuan went through, okay?"

He said nothing. As far as Perseus was concerned, that was his family and that disgrace was his to bear as well.

"Look," Athena began, "first of all, we don't even know if that really was Jupiter property or if someone's trying to make Jupiter look guilty. Haven't you thought about that possibility?"

"We have," Penny said as she and Qrow joined them.

"Who would benefit from starting a war, though?" Ingrid said.

"The businesses who literally profit off of arms trades, of course," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Although that could mean anyone, whether Jupiter Enterprises, Atlas, or possibly even Hillphire Innovations, although I don't really see the latter doing anything so stupid. Dr. Hillphire runs his company pretty tightly."

They all turned to the sound of motorcycles approaching them from the main road. It was a gang of four, one red and black, another yellow and black, a third white and blue, and a final one bathed completely in different shades of green. Athena and Leon broke into simultaneous dashes to the yellow rider, who disembarked her bike before taking off her helmet, allowing long, voluminous golden hair fall behind her.

"Aunt Yang!" the twins yelled before embracing her from either side.

Yang couldn't help but chuckle. "You two haven't changed," she said, lifting them both up into the air with just her shoulder muscles alone, flapping her arms like wings with them clinging to her.

"Great Aunt Raven!" Leon said, darting to the red and black rider, who set her helmet down on her seat.

"Have you been working on your swing, Leon?" Raven asked him, placing a hand on her hip.

"Yes, ma'am!" he said, standing up straight.

"Hey, kiddo," Qrow said, sharing an embrace with Yang before giving his sister a nod, which Raven returned.

"How's everything, Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked.

"Oh, you know, just babysitting all the brats."

"Hee-hee," Athena and Leon snickered together.

"Yang?"

They all turned to the distance, where Ruby, Jaune, and Tai disembarked one of the transport shuttles. Ruby ran to them, embracing both of her children first and then sharing a long hug with her sister.

"I've missed you," Ruby said, holding onto Yang tightly.

"Same," Yang said.

"Hey, is that arm Hillphire Tech?" she said as she looked at her sister's new right hand, which was indistinguishable from a human one.

"Damn right," she said. "It's warmer than that old Atlas arm. I mean, don't get me wrong. I appreciate all that shit, but Hillphire Tech is way better than Atlas Tech. Here, touch it."

Ruby poked Yang's hand before squealing. "Oh, wow!"

"Hey, Yang," Jaune said, shaking hands with her before she hugged him.

"You idiot," she said. "You're part of the family now. What's with this handshake shit?"

He chuckled. "Hey, Qrow, Raven."

"Ruby!" Penny yelled before running to her. The latter also ran, meeting her halfway as they shared in a long embrace.

"Oooh!" Ruby squeaked. "I've missed you!"

"Me, too!"

"Okay," Jaune said to his kids, who were smiling at him. He smiled back. That cheerfulness definitely came from Ruby more so than him. "Where's your guys' teams?"

"APEX!" Athena called out. In a flash, her team was right beside her, awaiting her next command. "Dad, Mom, Aunt Yang, Great Aunt Raven, Grandpa Tai, this is my team, Perseus, Echo, and Xanthus."

"You're team APEX, are you?" Raven said.

"Yes, ma'am!" the trio said in unison.

"I've heard a lot about you. Supposedly trying to dethrone some of the top teams of the past."

"Just doin' our best," Athena said with a smirk.

"Good. I don't expect any less from you."

"What about you, Leon?" Tai said. "Where's your team?"

"Lilly! Ingrid! Yuan!" he yelled to them. They headed over, Lilly waving to everyone as soon as they were within range. "Guys, this is my team leader, Lilly Schnee, and Yuan Ren, from Mistral."

"Dude," Ingrid said.

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting somebody?"

"Oh, yeah, y'all know Ingrid already."

"You suck."

He chuckled before reaching out quickly to try and snare her cat ears to no avail. She was just too quick for him.

"Schnee? Ren?" Ruby said.

"Yes," Yuan said.

"Ohmygod!" she yelled before grabbing both Lilly and Yuan in a big hug. "How are your parents?"

"You know my parents?" Yuan asked.

"Mm-hmm! Ren and Nora were on the same team with me and Jaune during the last war! Well, for a little bit, anyway."

"This is crazy," Jaune said. "We all sent our kids to the same school at the same time."

"Everybody knows that was planned," Yang chuckled. "So, what y'all doin' right now?"

"Oh, you know," Leon said. "Just Yangin' out."

She high-fived him and Ingrid sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Ah, so you're the culprit," Perseus said, joining in.

"Perseus, right?" Yang said.

"Yep."

"Wait, you're the Jupiter kid, aren't you?"

"That's me."

"Huh. A Jupiter and a Schnee in the same circle of friends. Who'd a thunk?"

Yuan looked to a shuttle that came from the east. He spotted his parents disembarking. They weren't even halfway down the ramp, but he could already tell that his mom was in the midst of babbling to his father, who listened without any verbal response, only nodding, shaking his head, and shrugging as the need arose. He walked up to them briskly before giving them a bow.

"Yuan!" Nora yelled before hugging him so tightly that it squeezed the air out of his lungs.

"Hi, mom," he wheezed.

"Ohmygosh, you grew out your hair! Have you been eating right? How's school? Are your grades good? Your field exams? Do you have a girlfriend?"

At the last question, he reddened.

"Oh," Ren said. "Who's the lucky girl?"

Yuan didn't answer. Both of his parents looked past him as an oddly familiar cat Faunus girl approached. Yuan turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin as Ingrid caught up to him, looking up into his jade eyes.

"Hey, Yuan," she said. "Are these your parents?"

"Y-Yeah," he said, turning around as he ushered her forward. "Mom, dad, this is Ingrid, my...teammate."

Both Nora and Ren noticed from how closely they stood together that they were probably more than mere teammates. But the one thing that stood out to them even more than that fact was the uncanny resemblance between her and a certain other cat Faunus they once knew.

"Hi," Ingrid said with a timid smile.

"Aww, she's so pretty!" Nora said, upon which both Ingrid and Yuan instantly reddened.

"Nora," Ren said. "Do you have to make things so awkward for everybody?"

"Oh, hush. She's a beautiful cat Faunus, just like her mom!" She turned to Ingrid. "Your mom's Blake Belladonna, isn't she?"

Ingrid was about to answer when she spotted her family disembarking a shuttle from Menagerie. "You guys wanna go meet them?" she asked the three.

Ren smiled as he gestured to Yuan with his hand.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Yuan said, upon which Ingrid took him by the hand and led him to her family.

Nora quietly squealed to Ren as they followed. The latter couldn't help but laugh silently to himself. While he fully expected his son to possibly nurture a relationship with someone during his stay at Beacon, it was Nora whose excitement was uncontainable.

"Ingrid!"

"Ingrid!"

"Ingrid!"

"Ingrid!"

Ingrid laughed as her four younger sisters surrounded her with hugs. It was the eldest of her younger sisters who noticed that she never broke contact with the handsome young man she had in tow.

"Who's this beautiful man, hmm, sis?" she said.

"I will _destroy_ you if you keep this up," Ingrid growled at her.

"C'mon! Introduce us already!"

"Yeah," Sun said. "Introduce us to your friend."

Ingrid's face went bright red. "Uh, everybody, this is Yuan," she said, holding him side by side with her. "Yuan, that's my mom and dad. This is my younger sister, Fiona—"

"Younger by just one year, and wholly single," Fiona interrupted her, prompting a growl from the eldest.

"—And these are my triplet younger sisters, in order of age, Francine, Justine, and Nadine."

"Pleasure to meet you," Yuan said with a bow.

"Oooh!" Francine and Justine squealed as they held hands face to face. "He's such a gentleman!"

"You are all terrible," Ingrid said.

"Hey," said a monkey Faunus at the rear of the pack. "You gonna forget your bro, huh, sis?"

"That's Hanuman," Ingrid said to Yuan, "the baby of the group."

"S'cuse me? 'Baby'?"

She made a mock crying gesture with her hands.

"I'm turning fifteen, I will have you know!" He squared off right up to Yuan's face. "Sup."

"Hi," Yuan replied.

"You can call me Han. All my good friends call me Han."

"Sure thing, Han. You can call me Yuan."

"Good. I think we'll be good friends."

"Okay, that's enough," Blake said, instantly commanding the kids' attention. "You all need to stop harassing your sister's friends."

"'Friends,' huh?" Francine and Justine snickered to Fiona and Nadine.

" _Enough_!" Blake said, to which they immediately obeyed.

"Sorry, mom," all five younger siblings said.

"Thanks, mom," Ingrid chuckled.

"Yuan, huh?" Sun said to him. "And your parents are Ren and Nora?"

"Yes, sir," Yuan said with a bow.

"Hey, none of that. You make me feel old."

He chuckled.

"Just call me Sun."

He nodded before sharing a strong handshake with him.

"Ren! Nora!" Blake said before giving both of them one big hug.

"It's good to see you, Blake!" Nora said.

"It is!"

Sun and Ren bumped fists before they both turned to the rest of the group, which was gathered off in the distance.

"I think I see Ruby," Blake said.

"And Yang," Sun said.

"And Jaune," Ren said.

"And..." Nora trailed off. "Bubbly Weiss? Huh?"

"That's Lilly," Ingrid said. "Our team's leader."

Blake, Sun, Ren, and Nora exchanged brief glances. That was Weiss Schnee's daughter. And also _his_ daughter.

"C'mon," Blake said, leading the way. "Let's go meet up with them."

"Leon!" Fiona yelled as she ran all the way across the field straight to him.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, turning around to meet Ingrid's younger cat Faunus sister as she leaped into his arms. "Whoa, hey, Fi, how's it going?"

"I've been so lonely!" she said. "I've missed you so much!"

He chuckled nervously before spotting Lilly out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't tell for sure, but he could've sworn she had taken a step away from him. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

"Why haven't you replied to any of my text messages, huh?" Fiona demanded.

"T-Text messages?" Leon said nervously before trying to set her back down on the ground, but it was impossible. She clung to him like a bee on a flower.

"Yes! I've been texting you and emailing you all year long! And you've been ignoring me!"

"I haven't been ignoring you! You didn't get any of my responses?"

She shook her head with a frown. Before she could say anything else, though, Ingrid managed to peel her off of him. Leon peeked over an angry Fiona and mouthed the words "Thank you!" to Ingrid, who chuckled.

"I'm hungry," Qrow said as the group came together. "Ren, you still make good pancakes and shit, don't you?"

"I do," he replied.

"We're _not_ gonna make Ren cook the moment he touches down here!" Penny yelled.

"Yeah!" Ruby yelled as well. "What Penny said!"

They shared a high five.

"I don't care what we eat," Perseus said, "so long as we eat."

Echo's stomach rumbled and everyone looked in her direction. She reddened, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"I'm with her," Leon said.

—

The entire group had lunch at the campus cafeteria, foregoing suggestions to eat in the city. It was Ruby who had suggested eating on campus just for old time's sake. It was also her and Nora who had shamelessly gathered together as many tables as they needed to fit their entire group.

"Your mom doesn't hold back, does she?" Perseus said.

Leon chuckled. "You talkin' to me or to Yuan?"

"Shit, man, both of you."

"I think it's an incredibly small world for all of you to have been related to each other in some way," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "Miss Yang said that this wasn't planned at all, right?"

"Well, _we_ planned it," Blake said, referring to herself and Ruby. "We sent Ingrid to study at Signal for that exact reason. We left it up to her whether she'd join them at Beacon Academy or move elsewhere and she chose Beacon."

"All the better, too," Sun said. "She gets to learn from the best."

"Aww, you're makin' me blush, Sun," Qrow said.

Sun bumped fists with him before the two made a mock explosion sound as they opened up their fists upon impact.

"Anyway," Nora began, "there is one big question that needs some answering."

The rest of the table looked at her as she tossed an orange up and down in her hand, a massive grin spread across her face.

"First generation against second generation?" Jaune said.

"Huh?" Leon and Athena said.

"Wait," Ingrid began, "you're not suggesting a food fight, are you?"

"We are _not_ doing this today," Blake said.

Lilly looked at her. Ingrid was sitting beside her. They looked nearly identical with their arms cross over their chests, scowls on their faces. She giggled softly to herself.

The whole day was spent catching up on everything. Ruby and Jaune continued to teach at Signal Primary Combat School with Ruby's father, Tai, as the headmaster. Ren and Nora lived a quiet life in the Mistral Kingdom, reviving Kuroyuri, Ren's old hometown, and keeping it safe from the Grimm. Ren now served as that village's chieftain while Nora took care of the security side of things, regularly venturing out with their bravest to keep the Grimm as far away from the village as possible.

Yang kept her promise to herself to go out and see the world, chasing excitement whichever way it went, but she didn't do it alone. Raven decided to hit the road with her, bringing along the only two left alive of her tribe to form a quartet of biker women who went around the continents protecting villages and performing all sorts of other jobs for bounty pay, some of which might be considered morally ambiguous.

"Did something happen to Vernal?" Tai asked Raven, noticing that their fellow biker in green was not the same young woman from eighteen years ago.

Raven didn't answer.

"She's no longer with us," Yang answered without looking at him.

Tai and Qrow exchanged brief glances. Vernal wasn't one to go down easily, but they both understood how fiercely loyal she was to Raven and their tribe, so loyal as to fake her power as the Spring Maiden all this time, covering for Raven.

"I still don't get it," Ruby began. "How was it that she was able to open the vault at Haven when you were in the council meeting that whole time, aunt Raven?"

"Simple," Raven said. "She didn't open it."

"Wait, that means you were down there before anyone else was?"

She didn't answer.

"Wow. You really did go all out just to keep everybody from knowing."

"Being a Maiden makes you Salem's primary target," Yang said. "So, yeah. Mom had to keep that fact hidden no matter what."

"And Vernal kicking ass on the battlefield," Qrow said, "that was all just an act, too?"

"Why do you think I was no more than a hundred yards from her at any time?" Raven said.

"Makes sense. Huh. In retrospect, everything you guys did back then makes total sense, like you constantly wearing your helmet so no one would see that Maiden eye glow thing."

"Anyway," Yang began, "what about, you, Blake? What have you been up to in Menagerie all this time?"

"Busy," Blake began, describing everything she and Sun were responsible for now in Menagerie. Sun had spent a short time away from home to be Shade Academy's headmaster, but he had grown homesick in short order and after only two years teaching there, he and Oscar convinced Neptune to take over his duties before Sun came back home to be a father to his children.

Blake had taken over all of the burdens her father once bore, becoming chieftain of the settlement, whose population had exploded since the war. Not only did the resident Faunus population grow, so did humans who came from around the world to make lives there, intermarrying and starting their own families in the ultimate act of outreach between the two peoples. The population swelled to the point that the borders of the settlement had to be expanded further inland, taming the frontier that was Menagerie. Today, it was a global economic center, with strong business ties to both Jupiter Enterprises and Hillphire Innovations. Only Atlas refused business with them, not that Blake would have accepted given their past harsh treatment of her people.

"There's a CCTS Tower there now, too, right?" Nora said.

"Yeah," Blake said. "There's also talks of starting a Huntsman Academy, too, centered around the tower, of course."

"I'll be the headmaster if that happens, naturally," Sun said. "At the very least, I'll be able to stay a lot closer to home."

"There's supposed to be a special announcement or something about us, isn't there?" Ingrid said to her mother.

"That's right," Blake said. "Your grandpa and grandma miss you, by the way. They're mad you never call."

Ingrid's face soured. "It's not like I _haven't_ been busy or anything like that. I could barely make the time to send you and dad messages, too."

Blake chuckled. "I know. They just miss you, that's all."

They all took intermittent glances over at Lilly, who was in conversation with some of the other youngsters at the table. She was the spitting image of her mother, with the same snow-white hair, the same height and build, and even the same taste in clothing. The only real differences were in their personality, the way Lilly wore her hair, and her eye color, which matched that of her father.

Bringing up the topic was much too painful for the old generation, even after eighteen years of time to heal. That man was integral to their victory over the dark forces that had threatened to plunge all of Remnant into a never-ending nightmare and Lilly didn't even seem to be aware of it. Penny had updated them all prior to their arrival here that Weiss apparently kept everything regarding him a secret from Lilly, which Ruby didn't understand. After all, even though she had lost her own mother at a young age, it was stories of her that kept her alive in her heart. Lilly had no enjoyment of such a thing.

"So," Ruby said, nudging Lilly. "How's your mom?"

The other side of the table almost froze, each one hoping that she wouldn't mention her father at all, but Ruby wasn't one to hold back and they all feared the worst.

"Oh!" Lilly said, smiling at her with equal brightness. "Last time I chatted with her was last month, actually. She's doing good! Still tending to her garden, but happy!"

"I see." She waited for Lilly to say something about her father, but it never came. "Did you make that weapon yourself?"

"Huh?" She pulled out Myrtenaster. "Oh, no, mom gave this to me the day I shipped out from home. Funny story, actually. I had no idea what I was even doing here and they even launched me into the sky with no parachute and I didn't even know what the heck to do but then good thing I remembered that this thing had Gravity Dust in it and so I used it like a parachute but ohmygod I had no idea what I was doing here for the entire first month of classes!"

Ruby giggled. "Your mom didn't teach you anything?"

"No!" Lilly whined. "It was _so_ not fair! She was supposed to be, like, one of the best students here and I joined up being the _worst_ student on the entire roster!"

"Well, you're not at the bottom now, are you?"

She didn't answer.

"I took a look at the first-year roster. You're number four. You know that, don't you?"

"Wait, since when?" Leon said, looking over at Lilly. "When the hell did you overtake me?"

"Uh, two weeks ago, Leon," Ruby said to him. "You don't pay attention to the roster?"

"No!"

"And that's why your sister is number one and you are not."

"Oooh!" Perseus said. "Roasted by your own mom!"

Laughs went around the table as Leon crossed his arms and sank into his chair.

"It's okay," Fiona said, stroking his back. "I still believe in you."

"Thanks, Fi," he said, frowning.

Ruby decided not to mention Lilly's father after all. Absolutely nothing about their conversation even hinted that Weiss ever told her anything about him. That was a question she would reserve for her old teammate and best friend. She wasn't going to be the one to unbalance the relationship between Weiss and Lilly, even though she suspected that Lilly had thought about that subject at least once in her life.


	28. Chapter XXVIII

CHAPTER XXVIII

 _The Snow Princess_

Lilly excused herself from the big reunion quietly, assuming she had gotten no one else's attention. That wasn't the case, of course, as everyone noticed that the daughter of the one person in the original generation who wasn't present was now slipping away. Team LILY was quick to tail her out of the cafeteria. That was their leader and friend and they would never abandon her. Yuan had considered that she might go off into that parallel world again, but it didn't matter to him right now. They were going to stick by their comrade—even if her secret were to get blown—and that was that.

Lilly moved her hair out of her face as a breeze tossed it to the side. More airships were landing around them, some at Vale's port and others right here, at Beacon Academy. The guest dorms would fill up quickly, as would the many hotels and other residences in the city proper. She wondered how many people were here today. If all of her friends' families had come to visit, no doubt other Beacon students' families were here as well. Add to that all of those competitors from the other kingdoms and their own families and this would be a busy month.

She watched as a ship from Atlas descended from the rest of the fleet, docking at the pier. This particular vessel bore the crest of the Schnee Family, that pale blue snowflake that served as the physical representation of their Semblance and their legacy, neither of which Lilly shared in. She gasped as she ran toward the passengers disembarking the vessel, but her excitement rapidly faded as she realized who it was walking down the ramp.

"Lilly Schnee," the girl said, striding haughtily to her. "It's been a long time."

"Ivory," Lilly said, standing face to face with her younger cousin by two years. She stood at five feet, two inches, only an inch shorter than Lilly, but she made it a habit to wear high heels everywhere. Even in her Atlas military uniform, her combat boots were elevated enough to put her at a head height just over Lilly's, giving her the appearance of being taller.

"I hear you and your team are competing in the tournament," Ivory said.

"You heard correctly," Lilly replied.

"Well, dear cousin. I look forward to our match. Although, I should probably warn you that I won't take it easy on you just because we're blood related. Allegedly blood related, anyway. Tell me, have you mastered our family's Semblance yet?"

She didn't answer.

"I see. You can't even use it. That's too bad. And your eyes are still the color of mud, unlike the pure crystal that the rest of us possess."

Lilly stopped her hand from balling itself into a fist. She couldn't allow Ivory's taunts to get under her skin, not at a time like this. She noticed Ivory eyeing Myrtenaster, upon which she gradually took on an even more hostile demeanor.

"Unbelievable," Ivory muttered. "Of all people to inherit that family treasure, it's the outsider who gets it."

"Ivory!"

She stiffened at the sound of her name before turning around to face her mother. "Yes, mother?" she said.

"Make sure you check in right away. You don't want to run out of room at the guest dorms."

"Of course. I shall see you there shortly."

Ivory gave her mother a bow before sending Lilly a glare as she walked by. Lilly had refused to make eye contact with her at all, thankful that she was granted a reprieve at least this once.

"Aunt Winter!" she yelled before throwing herself over her, ignoring the typically strict military protocol. Lilly was never one to follow any such rigid order as this anyway. She had always been a free spirit. She would _always_ be a free spirit no matter what.

"Lilly," Winter said with a smile as she returned her embrace. The only time her demeanor ever softened up like this was around her niece. "How goes everything for you? Have your instructors been treating you well?"

She giggled. "Of course they have!" Out of respect for her aunt's rank, Lilly took a step back and curtseyed before carrying herself in a much more dignified manner than usual. "I'm guessing you've been keeping track of the roster, right?"

"Of course I have. Team LILY has made it into the tournament to represent Beacon and all of Vale. However, I wish to remind you of the purpose for these tournaments. While there are those, whose voices have been loud as of late, who would construe these matches as a competition of sorts between the kingdoms, remember that while you may have a banner to fly, the true banner is that of all humankind. The tournament is a way of attaining excellence for yourself and your team."

"Of course, Aunt Winter," Lilly said. "And that is what I aim for. At the very least, I want to be able to call myself worthy of wielding Myrtenaster."

"Lilly. You already are worthy of it. My sister would not have bequeathed it to you if you were unworthy, would she have?"

She smiled. Of course she wanted to believe that. The problem was actually believing it. After all, Ivory was right. She wasn't even half the person her mother was. She couldn't even save that one family from their torment.

"What is bothering you?" Winter asked.

"Huh?" Lilly said, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Listen, I'm sorry about Ivory. She's just...under a lot of pressure."

"Oh, no, that didn't bug me. I was just thinking about all the pressure, too, that's all."

"Pressure is good. It pushes you to succeed. However, you must not let it crush you. Sometimes I wonder if Ivory herself is under too much pressure. She's the youngest in her entire class, after all. By a lot."

"Yeah, she's great isn't she?"

Winter could sense the hurt behind Lilly's words, even though none of it showed in her smile. That was what got to Winter more than anything, that Lilly could continue to wear such a big smile despite everything in her heart. It could not be easy to bear such a burden on one's shoulders, to know that her mother was the one who saved the planet two decades ago. Those were enormous shoes to fill.

She looked past Lilly at her team, who were halfway across the field behind her. "Is that them?"

Lilly turned around to face Ingrid, Leon, and Yuan, who were idling around. Leon was miming something to Ingrid, who didn't look impressed. She instead stood closer to Yuan, who didn't mind her leaning against him. They took notice of their leader and directed their undivided attention to her.

"I should like to meet with your team," Winter said, upon which Lilly called them over.

"You must be Lilly's aunt," Leon said before taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it. "My name is Leon Rose, son of Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose."

"I am more than familiar with Ruby and Jaune," Winter said. "I did fight alongside them. Now, I must ask, Mr. Rose, is this how you normally behave, or are you merely trying to impress me?"

"Oh. Well, I, uh—"

"She sees right through you, dude," Ingrid said.

"Shh!"

Winter couldn't help but chuckle. "And you two are Ingrid Belladonna and Yuan Ren, am I correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," Yuan said with a bow.

"Yeah," Ingrid said, shaking hands with Winter, who instead stepped forward to hug all three of them. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"It's unbecoming of a military officer of my rank," Winter began, "but the three of you are quite special to me. Your parents and I fought in that last war together, so you're more than just my niece's classmates. I would go so far as to say I consider you family."

"Well," Leon said, scratching his head, "I guess that just kinda caught us off-guard, that's all."

"Come," Winter said, beckoning the four together. "I wish to see your quarters."

"We sleep in bunk beds!" Lilly said, skipping ahead of everybody and walking backwards facing the group.

"Bunk beds, hmm? I recall your mother telling me the same thing eighteen years ago. So long as these new bunks are of less questionable construction than theirs was, I will approve."

—

"I hope the three of you didn't feel left out," Athena said as she and her team exited the mess hall together, leaving the older generation to catch up.

"Not at all," Perseus said, stretching and yawning. "Your mom and dad are super cool, by the way. Too bad they're not teaching here at Beacon. It woulda been awesome to learn from them."

She chuckled. "I mean, I learned from them, and I dunno if it was anything special."

"If you say so," Xanthus said. "From the little bit I've read, they were key players in the Labyrinth War. I think that makes them quite special."

"Sure, I guess."

"Hey," Echo said with a frown. "You're always yelling at us for saying we're nothing special. How come you get to say the same about yourself?"

"But it's not me I'm talking about. It's my parents."

"Same difference!"

"Oh, Lilly's back," Perseus said as he led the group to her. Upon close inspection, though, he realized that it wasn't her at all. Her long, snow-white hair was tied into a high ponytail, falling all the way down to her knees. She was also dressed in an Atlas military uniform, not the summer dress and flats that Lilly was wearing earlier.

" _You_ ," Ivory said, glaring at Perseus.

"Me?" he said. "What the hell did _I_ do?"

"You're that Jupiter scum!"

"Wha? Have we met somewhere?"

"I think there's a misunderstanding here," Athena said.

"There's no misunderstanding at all!" Ivory said. "He's the youngest son of the Jupiter Family!"

Perseus popped his collar. "I mean, I'm flattered that you know who I am—"

"Your whole family is scum!"

"Judging from her reaction and her physical appearance," Xanthus began, pushing up his glasses, "I would say she's a member of the Schnee Family."

"Yeah, I kinda got that from the white hair and blue eyes and the fucking _snowflake_ on her uniform!" Perseus said. "But we know a Schnee, too, and she's _never_ reacted to me like this!"

"That girl is _not_ a Schnee!" Ivory fumed. "She does not even have our eye color! Or our Semblance! And yet _she_ was the one to inherit Myrtenaster! Ugh!"

They watched as she stomped away.

"Okay," Echo said, stupefied. "What the fuck was that?"

"I have no fucking idea," Perseus said.

Athena looked over to the first year dorms. Team LILY and another Schnee were headed inside. In a flash, she was able to deduce precisely what they had just experienced.

"Perhaps we just witnessed the tip of the iceberg of a family feud," Xanthus said.

Athena threw an arm around her teammate. "I am so proud of you right now, Mr. Xenon."

"Huh?"

Echo chuckled.

"What did I do?"

"You said 'iceberg'," Echo said.

"Yes, and?"

"You're literally talking about the Schnee Family. And you used the word 'iceberg'."

He thought about it for a moment. "Ah, I see."

"Don't you mean," Perseus began, "'Icy'?"

Athena and Perseus shared a high-five.

"Too bad Ingrid isn't here to witness this gloriousness," Echo said with a chuckle.

—

Oscar looked out his office window at the two massive air fleets. It was an undoubted show of might between Jupiter Enterprises and the Atlas Military. The tension between the two countries had been slowly coming to a boil as of late. All of this originated with the end of the Labyrinth War, when the geologic cataclysms caused by the clash of Caliburn and Durandal had opened up new Dust veins all around Vacuo, which were immediately claimed by the Jupiter merchant family, guarded by their new security teams, thereby preventing anyone else from claiming them, including the Schnee Dust Company.

Once a lowly merchant family, this new economic opportunity rocketed the Jupiter Family to enormous heights, causing them to overtake the Schnee Dust Company in mere years. Contributing to their success was the fact that the head of the family, Kronos Jupiter, was incredibly charismatic and had a tendency to spoil his employees. This resulted in a massive laborer exodus from the Schnee Dust Company, causing the Jupiter Dust Company's workforce and, thus, profits to swell and forcing Jacques to effectively forbid anyone from leaving the company, enacting measures as extreme as deploying the Atlas Military to mining sites.

In response to such measures and in anticipation of possible military intervention, the Jupiter Dust Company raised its own military, developing robotics technology that rivaled that of Atlas Tech and creating a powerful Vacuo economy based around the threat of possible invasion from Atlas. Publicly, however, this new army operated under the pretext of national security. All of these measures had the effect of centralizing power in Vacuo around the Jupiter Dust Company, which expanded its industry to include other products and services besides Dust, marking the beginning of Jupiter Enterprises.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Vacuo had a working system, putting it on a level playing field with the other three kingdoms. It wasn't lost on Oscar, however, that this sudden rise to power threatened the balance of the world. Menagerie, which historically viewed Vacuo as allies and Atlas as enemies, was expected to take Vacuo's side in the event of a conflict and Mistral was expected to side with Atlas in a repeat of the great war of a hundred years ago.

Oscar could only hope that Blake Belladonna and Hollie Lyon had enough influence in their own countries to prevent an all-out conflagration from consuming the world once again. Salem had been sealed away by the Silver Maiden not even twenty years ago. It would prove to anyone watching that humanity was more of a threat to itself than the very avatar of darkness if the kingdoms were to go down this chaotic path willingly.

The elevator to his office opened up and he turned around to face his visitors, Qrow Branwen, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Glynda Goodwitch, James Ironwood, Winter Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Sun Wukong, and Kronos Jupiter.

"Thank you all for attending," Oscar said. The roof access door opened to allow Penny in.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, shutting the door behind her.

"You're making it a habit of flying instead of using elevators like normal people," Qrow said with a chuckle.

"Shush!"

"Let's start with the most important order of business," Glynda said, turning to Kronos Jupiter.

"First of all," he began, "I would like to apologize for what happened to your two students. I heard that they have recovered and are doing well, is that true?"

"It's true," Oscar said. "Thankfully."

"I am glad to hear that. Now, I assure you that those people responsible for that are no friends to the Jupiter Family. My suspicion is that it is a third party attempting to make a scapegoat out of us, perhaps to start a war between our countries. However, I am also open to the possibility that it was, in fact, someone from within our organization that is operating outside of my knowledge and my authorization. I have ordered investigations, but if this is the case, then they are very deeply embedded as these investigations have yielded nothing."

"I can confirm these results," Sun said. "It was my own guys I sent to help out with the investigations. Nothin' so far."

"This is indeed quite alarming," Oscar said. "Nevertheless, the festival must continue."

"I agree," Kronos said. "After all, the very reason for the Vytal festival is to remind all of us that we are, despite four kingdoms, one race, the human race." He gave a nod to Blake. "Perhaps after today, it will no longer be four kingdoms, but five."

"We appreciate your continued support, President Jupiter," Blake said.

"Now," Kronos began, "for the elephant in the room that we all are eager to address, or rather, the elephant which is _not_ in the room right now."

"General Holland refused to attend this meeting," Winter said. "He views this coalition as nothing more than a way for the other kingdoms to bully him into conceding to their...'demands,' as he put it."

"Jimmy, I know you can be stubborn," Qrow began, "but man, I wish _you_ were still general over that asshole."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ironwood said.

"I mean, you're at least reasonable."

The elevator doors opened and General Sergei Holland walked in with an aide.

"Oh, hey, Sergei," Qrow said. "We were just talkin' about you."

"Of course you were," General Holland said. "I read the reports about your students being attacked in the Forever Fall forest, Headmaster Pine. Allow me to extend my condolences."

"They both survived and are well, fortunately," Oscar said. "I'm glad you've decided to join us, General Holland."

"I do this as a sign of goodwill. Like everyone else in this room, I am against starting another war. We all lived through that hell eighteen years ago. I doubt anyone wants to repeat history."

"So, then, what are you offering?" Qrow began. "This is mostly between you and Kronos."

"Atlas has already made its offer," General Holland said. "Vacuo has already given its answer."

"You do realize your demands are unreasonable, don't you?" Kronos said.

"The Atlas council didn't think so. I agree with the council."

"Those mines you want me to just hand over to you were closed down by the Schnee Dust Company long _before_ the beginning of the Labyrinth War. How can you expect me to return them to you willy nilly like that?"

"Because they were Atlas property to begin with."

"Property that you let go a long time ago."

"Property that was never officially signed back to Vacuo, which wouldn't be possible anyway because at that time, Vacuo had absolutely no system to speak of and that section of the continent was no more than wild lands."

"The cataclysm that opened up those mines changed the landscape completely. Old photographs of the mines once operated by the Schnee Dust Company wouldn't even come close to the mines that our company owns now. Jupiter Enterprises has made rightful claims to these lands and we've even _restored_ the environment, outright _reversed_ the damages that the Schnee Dust Company left in its wake."

"As I said, Atlas has made its offer and Vacuo has given its answer." He turned to the rest of the group. "Which is why I have come here to present my country's case to this coalition in order to reach a fair and just compromise."

"You're not going to like my answer, General Holland," Oscar said.

"I didn't think so."

"President Jupiter has a point. The SDC ceded ownership of those mines when they closed them down decades ago. While you are correct that Vacuo had no formal system of government to preside over such things, the fact remains that upon closing down those mines, the SDC gave up all of its ownership rights and the mines became neutral territory, which the JDC had complete rights to claim."

"I see," General Holland said. "Thank you for your time."

He left the room with his aide.

"This is just fucking great," Qrow said.

"I will do all that I can to stop a war from breaking out," Ironwood said.

"As will I," Winter said. "However, you must all understand how things are looking in Atlas right now. General Holland holds almost all of the power in the entire country, both military and political. While I do have many who are loyal to me, I control only a fraction of the armed forces. Even if I were to ignore General Holland's orders, it would still mean the bulk of the fleets and armies are under his command."

"He's also quite the convincing speaker," Ironwood added. "He has mostly everyone convinced that the rest of the world is trying to bully Atlas into giving in to everyone else's demands, trying to punish us for starting that war a hundred years ago." He turned to Blake. "It is entirely possible that Atlas may even attempt to invade Menagerie and take over the new Dust deposits that have opened up there as well."

"I'd like to see them try," Sun said, resting his hands behind his head. "There's a reason we Faunus have been able to survive in that crazy ass environment."

"President Jupiter," Blake began, "I sincerely hope you do not take this the wrong way, but although we have a strong relationship with each other, I cannot permit the Faunus to participate in an unnecessary war. We will fight to defend Vacuo territories as we do recognize your rights to those lands, but if the war extends anywhere beyond that, we will withdraw. If Menagerie is threatened, we will also withdraw to defend our home."

"That's fair," Kronos said. "I, too, would like to avoid needless conflict. However, there is one conflict that we must address that is even more critical than this looming war."

"The Labyrinths," Raven said.

"You, too?" Tai said.

"It's how I lost Vernal."

There was silence in the room for a bit.

"I'm...sorry," Oscar said. "I did not realize it was due to the Labyrinths."

"I tell everyone it was an accident because of all the commotion it would cause, but it's true. Vernal lost her life in a Labyrinth. Someone drew us into it, myself, my daughter, Vernal, and our other companion, Lucia."

—

"It was Cinder," Yang continued the story of Vernal's death. "We're sure of it."

"Cinder was able to draw you into a Labyrinth?" Jaune said. "How the hell is that even possible?"

"Honestly, we don't even know if she forced us in. For all we know, she could've just been stalking us all this time to try and ambush us and then jumped in when it happened."

"Wait, Cinder's been hopping in and out of people's Labyrinths?" Ruby said. "But, how's that even possible? She's not a Wraith. Heck, she was born on our world just like the rest of us!"

"Like I said, Ruby, no one has any idea. And we don't know if she's been hopping in and out by her own will. All we know is that the four of us were drawn in one time, we got lost for a bit, fought a bunch of monsters we haven't seen since the Labyrinth War, and then Cinder attacked us, trying to steal the Spring Maiden's power. Vernal gave her life willingly to keep it from being taken. She's the reason my mom is alive today."

"Talk about loyalty," Nora said.

"But you had a fourth member with you," Ren said.

"That's Aurora," Yang said. "We went for a while with only three members. I think it took a month for my mom to decide she wanted to sell Vernal's bike, but just before the deal could go down, the town we were staying in was attacked by Grimm. Long story short, Aurora was a homeless girl whose entire family was killed by the Grimm and she vowed revenge for it. She joined us in the fight, nearly got herself killed protecting _me_ , and finally my mom decided that she'd make a good addition to the team. Figured someone with that kind of loyalty and ferocity would be worthy to inherit Vernal's bike."

"She looked pretty young," Ren said. "How old is she?"

"Just turned fourteen."

"Holy crap," Nora said. "She's that young and she's already kicking Grimm ass and hanging out with other biker girls?"

"Ruby started kicking ass when she was fifteen."

"Well, yeah."

Yang looked over to Aurora and Lucia, the only remaining living member of Raven's old tribe.

"So she's like a daughter to you, huh?" Ruby said.

"Yeah," Yang said. "I guess you could say that. I taught her basically everything. She even fights with her fists, too. Unlike you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she whined.

There were chuckles around the group.

"At least your kids know how to fight empty-handed," Ren said. "It's important to utilize everything you can around you as a weapon, not just the one you were equipped with."

"Would all of you just give me a break?" Ruby said. "Ugh! You are all so mean!"

—

"I would like to welcome you all to Beacon Academy," Oscar began his speech as the huge crowd gathered at the outdoor amphitheater between the main hall and the quad, with some of the people spilling out beyond the designated areas. Teams LILY and APEX hung out on the knight statue as always. "If you are competing in the upcoming tournament, consider yourself among the elite of the elites, the few who have outshone your peers and earned the privilege of sharing the stage with fellow chosen warriors. However, do not forget the spirit of the Vytal Festival, which is to foster brotherhood between the kingdoms and to encourage excellence among those who compete in the tournament."

"He really likes making speeches, doesn't he?" Leon said, playing with a rock he had picked up earlier before they had made the jump to the statue.

"I think it's cool," Perseus said, yawning.

"He says that as he yawns," Echo said.

"Well," Xanthus said, reaching for his glasses, but he stopped upon noticing everyone in the group miming his exact actions. He froze, staring at all of them for a moment before Lilly broke the silence with her giggling. It was Ingrid's turn this time to push his glasses up for him.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Ingrid chuckled.

"The tournament officially begins on Monday, right?" Yuan said.

"According to the schedule," Athena said. "So literally this is our only weekend off."

"Should we go train?" Echo said.

Athena stood up and stretched. "Nah. All we've been doing this past year is train, train, train. Choo-choo train. Let's spend what little free time we have left doing something fun. What do you think, Lilly?" When she received no response, she turned to her fellow team leader. Lilly was staring off into the distance, eyes wide, entire body tense. Her breathing started to hasten as well.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ingrid said.

Without a word, Lilly leaped up into the air, soaring over the manmade pond and darting across the fields. The rest of her circle of friends were standing, wondering what in the world had gotten into her. Penny, too, spotted Lilly dashing off into the distance and she looked to see what it was she was running to. She couldn't help but smile the moment her eyes met the target.

Lilly's eyes were filling with tears, but she continued running as fast as her legs would carry her. She couldn't believe it, but it really was true. The sunset behind her cast a silhouette that obscured her features, but Lilly would recognize her no matter the situation.

"Mom!" Lilly cried out as her eyes clouded over completely. She threw herself over her mother as soon as she was within reach, suppressing her cries as she held on to her mother as tightly as she could.

"Lilly," Weiss said, stroking her daughter's hair. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter!" Lilly replied, continuing to hold her mother tightly. "I just..." She backed away. "I thought you weren't gonna be here for another week!"

Weiss smiled at her. "And miss the opening ceremony? As if."

Lilly managed a smile and a giggle mixed with a sniffle before embracing her mother again.

"I've missed you so much, mom!" she said.

"I've missed you, too, Lilly," Weiss said.

Meanwhile, the crowd had taken notice of the commotion. Most had no clue what was going on, only that someone had just been reunited with her mother after a long time. At least, that was the supposition, which, of course, was true, but only a handful here understood the implication of Weiss Schnee's arrival.

Joining them for the opening address was the Silver Maiden, the one responsible for ending the Labyrinth War and saving all of Remnant nearly two decades ago, information only the privileged few were privy to. In the midst of the congregation, Ruby, Yang, and Blake watched with nostalgia as their old teammate walked with an overly excited Lilly as the latter babbled on and on about this and that. In the midst of the jabber, Weiss made brief eye contact with her old team and they all exchanged smiles with one another before Weiss turned her attention back to her daughter.

Penny noticed all of this as it happened. After almost twenty years, the old gang was back together. There were still a few missing, but they'd trickle in one by one. It wouldn't be long before this Vytal Festival would bring all of the most important people in her life back to her. But along with that nostalgia came a certain anxiety. It didn't take long for her to realize just what it was that caused it. After all, she had responded to his text message not that long ago. In less time than she could deal with, she would have to face him again.

And that meant facing herself more than anything else.


	29. Chapter XXIX

CHAPTER XXIX

 _Old and New_

Although Teams LILY and APEX had technically agreed to go out and relax prior to the tournament, which was starting in less than forty-eight hours, Lilly spent most of her time catching up with her mother, talking to her about nearly everything, including information she had already shared during her long distance calls back to home. The only things she left out were her rune powers and her excursions into that parallel world. She wanted to master her runic abilities before she showed Weiss. After all, she was the only Schnee who did not possess the Schnee Semblance. She had to have something to show off to her mother as an alternative, but not until she was ready.

As for that parallel world, there was no way she was going to tell her mother that she had been making incursions into some alternate reality that was clearly dangerous and with no real clue what in the world she was doing. Maybe some day she would, when she had her runic power mastered and when she was fully capable of emerging victorious no matter what. But she still had that one family to save. She made a promise to herself to take care of it before the end of the Vytal Festival.

"Lilly," Weiss said.

"Yeah, mom?" Lilly replied.

"I know you really want to catch up with me, but don't forget about your team."

"Oh, um—"

"We will have plenty of time to continue these conversations throughout the month."

"You're staying through to the end of the festival?"

Weiss smiled. "Of course I am."

"Oh! That's great!"

Weiss kissed her on the forehead. "I told you I'd be here, didn't I?"

Lilly gave her mother the biggest, brightest smile she could muster. There was a knock on the doorframe and both turned to the sound.

"So," Leon said. "We, uh, goin' out?"

"I don't think I'm in your age bracket," Weiss said.

Leon instantly went rigid. "Uh, I-I mean—" He was _not_ about to say that he wasn't talking to her, even though he wasn't, but then—

"I'm joking," Weiss said. Lilly turned to her and they shared a giggle. "Go on, Lilly. Don't leave your team waiting."

"We'll talk again later!" Lilly said, giving her mother a hug before standing up from the bed.

"Honestly, though, how did you four manage to erect such well-built bunk beds?"

"Leon's great with tools!"

"Ah, I see."

"Th-They were pre-built that way!" Leon said quickly. "I-I mean, yeah, Yuan and I and Ingrid and Lilly, we all worked together to assemble the beds, b-but it's not like I built them from scratch or anything!"

"What in the world are you getting so nervous about?" his mother's voice startled him from behind, making him jolt around.

"N-Nothing!"

Ruby sighed. "You know, that shy act doesn't work with girls. Ask your father."

"Man," Yuan said from down the hall. "Perseus was right. Roses have thorns." The instant the words left his mouth, he sensed both Ruby and Leon glaring at him. She wasn't present, but he could swear Athena was also sending negative vibes in his direction.

"What's wrong?" Ingrid said to him. "You look like something just crawled up your back."

"I-It's nothing," he said. "C'mon, let's go. Athena and the others are waiting for us downstairs."

"Are you sure they're there?" Lilly said.

"Yes. I have a very strong feeling she's down there waiting for me—I mean, for us."

Team LILY assembled at the bottom floor of the dorm along with Team APEX. They were joined by a number of other faces as well.

"You're not gonna leave us behind again, sis!" Francine, Justine, and Nadine said in unison.

"Especially not you!" Fiona said, pointing directly at Leon.

"Psh!" he said. "Of course not! I wouldn't dare leave my favorite kitty behind!"

She squealed before jumping on his back. "I'm gonna ride you all the way to wherever we're going!"

He chuckled.

"She hasn't changed at all," Han said, standing with Perseus and Xanthus. "Sup."

"You're Ingrid's bro, yeah?" Perseus said.

"Damn right. Hanuman Belladonna, but you can call me Han."

"Perseus." He extended a hand, but ended up shaking with Han's tail. "There's a first time for everything, but I never thought I'd ever shake, uh, tails?"

"Hey," Yuan said to Ingrid as he glanced over at Lilly. "Does our leader seem a little bit tense to you?"

Before she could answer, Francine and Justine took either of Yuan's hands and clung to him. He smiled at them sheepishly as they fawned over him.

"Oh, believe me," Ingrid growled. "I know how she feels."

"Huh?" Yuan said.

"Buddy," Perseus said, leaning in, "you done fucked up."

Xanthus also leaned in, pushing up his glasses before nodding in agreement alongside Han. Naturally, Yuan had no idea what in the world they were talking about, at least until he noticed Ingrid's scowl, simultaneously realizing that both of her younger sisters were practically hanging off his arms.

"You seem to be having fun with my sisters," Ingrid said.

"On the contrary," Yuan began, "I think they're the ones having all the fun."

"That's it." She stomped at them before prying both loose from his body. "No touch. Look only."

"See," Perseus said, leaning over to Xanthus. "That's a girl who knows what she wants."

"Agreed," Xanthus said, noting how tightly Ingrid clung to Yuan's arm as she shooed off her sisters. He turned to Athena, who was approaching them with Echo standing beside her. "Just like our leader."

"It's so nice being surrounded by strong women, huh?"

"Yes. It makes them all the more beautiful."

"Like Penny, right?"

He flinched. "Why do you bring her up all of a sudden?"

"Oh, nothing. I just noticed you sorta, I dunno, have stuff in common with her? I mean, you did join in on that conference with her and you've been coordinating with her a lot lately."

"It's important for a class president to have strong ties with faculty."

"Oh, yeah, you're building strong ties indeed."

Xanthus reddened. "I do not enjoy where this conversation is heading!" He looked Perseus in the eye. His partner was grinning suggestively.

"Where is she, anyway?" Perseus said.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I wasn't asking you specifically, dude. Jeez."

"She's probably hanging out with the old people again," Echo said.

"Anyway," Athena said, "I think they've already finished setting up the fair and stuff for the festival. Anyone down to go on the rides?"

"Let's get funnel cakes!" Lilly said, jumping up and down as she held hands with Ingrid's triplet sisters.

—

"Can you believe this was our old room?" Ruby said as she looked at all of Team LILY's belongings.

"I know," Yang said, looking through their videogame inventory. "And Team APEX took Team JNPR's old room across the hall."

"What are the odds of that?" Blake said.

Without a word, Weiss stood up from her chair and held all of her old team at once.

"I've missed you guys so much," she said, holding back tears.

"Weiss," Ruby said, returning her embrace tightly.

"Don't hold them back," Yang said. "You need to let 'em fall."

"Yeah," Blake said, leaning her head against Weiss's. "You don't have to hide them around us. We're family."

Weiss sniffled as she let her tears flow freely. She pulled away from them and they all stood hand-in-hand, forming a small circle in their old room. Weiss took a deep breath before letting it out all at once and returning the three smiles that were directed at her.

"Let's go hit the fair," she said.

"All the old gang back together?"

They turned to the doorway, where Jaune was standing. Behind him, Nora was exploring their old room, Team APEX's new home base. Penny and Ren were standing in the hallway, watching Nora from outside.

"You know what," Ruby said, "heck yeah. Let's go ride a Ferris Wheel!"

"I mean," Yang began, "that's boring as fuck, but whatever."

"You're no fun!"

"Dude, I'm just saying they're boring."

Ruby stuck her tongue out and Yang grabbed it, cackling as her younger sister shrieked and fled.

"Athena definitely took after you," Jaune said with a chuckle. "I don't ever do anything that mean."

"Anyway," Penny said.

"You mean, Pennyway?" Yang said, flickering her eyebrows. Penny gave her a high five while the rest of the group sighed. "Yo, real talk, though, this Hillphire arm is awesome."

Penny was just barely able to suppress the flinch that fought to the surface at the sound of that name. "Yeah, it's great tech, isn't it?"

"It's what you're made of now, right?"

She nodded.

"Sweet."

"Okay!" Ruby said. "Let's go already! I wanna get some ice cream!"

"Ice cream!" Nora echoed, jumping on Ren's back.

"Ice cream's first, then," Jaune said, leading the way out of the dorm.

—

"Oooh!" Lilly said as she ran around from booth to booth. "Look at all the games and stuff!"

"And the main show hasn't even started," Athena said, holding hands with Echo as they walked along the main promenade. "It won't be until Monday. The opening ceremony is supposed to accompany a whole host of other stuff. You know it's not just the combat tournament happening this year, right?"

"Yes, I heard about that," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "They're adding new events and sports such as running, ball throwing, long distance jumping, things like that."

"No wonder this one's gonna be a month long," Perseus said. "All of July. I was trying to figure out the crap they'd fill the month with, but I guess these events are pretty big. And here I thought the tournament was gonna do it, but I guess not."

"Hey!" Lilly yelled, surprising Leon and causing him to fall along with Fiona.

"My head," Leon said, rubbing his temple. "Fiona, why did you have to knee me like that?"

"Sorry!" she said, tending to his injury. "Is it better when I rub it like this?"

He chuckled before glancing at Lilly. She didn't seem as tense as earlier, but he could still detect something there.

"Anyway!" Lilly continued. "Let's go take some pictures at that booth!"

"Oh, it's the kind where you can add borders and effects and stuff," Ingrid said. "But our scrolls do that already. I think we all have that new filter app thing that came out as an add-on to our built-in cameras."

"But they're no fun!" Lilly said. "And besides, you can't print them instantly on our scrolls!"

"Good point."

The first pictures were with Team LILY, then with Team APEX, and then Leon surrounded by Ingrid's sisters, then Ingrid surrounded by all five of her siblings, then Yuan and Ingrid with her sisters photo-bombing in the background, then all the boys, then all the girls, and then finally every single one of them attempting to squeeze into the booth.

"We did it!" Perseus said. "Fuck yeah!"

"I can't believe we were able to get everyone's faces in," Xanthus said. "Wait, where's Han?"

"In the corner," Echo said. "He's the one hanging upside down."

"I'm glad that hasn't changed," Athena said with a chuckle.

After distributing copies of all the pictures to everyone, Lilly led the way to the Ferris Wheel, but Athena lagged behind with Echo, insisting they'd catch up.

"What's the matter?" Echo asked her.

"C'mon," Athena said, leading her into the photo booth. "We didn't get one of just us two."

Echo found herself reddening as she followed her partner inside. The first photos they took showed Echo's shy side, but as she got more and more comfortable, she joined Athena in the goofy poses.

"Okay, now we do romantic shit," Athena said.

"W-What?" Echo said, reddening.

"That's what couples do, right?"

"Uh, I-I guess."

"C'mon, then!"

The first pose was with Athena holding a visibly bashful Echo from behind, followed by one of Athena kissing Echo on the forehead as the other tried to hide her face from the camera. For the third pose, Athena told her a joke and the laughter captured was genuine. The final pose had them holding hands and facing each other, lips less than inch apart, but not touching.

"These are fucking perfect," Athena said, checking out the photos. "Okay, which ones do you want?"

"I think you should keep all of them," Echo said, shrugging.

"That won't do. C'mon."

Echo followed her as she went around in search of something.

"What are you looking for?" Echo said.

"Ah, perfect!" Athena said, rushing to a booth.

Echo wondered what she was doing as she walked up to join her. The gentleman behind the counter took the photos from Athena and made some cuts before installing them into two sets of teardrop-shaped pendants, which he handed to Athena as she paid for them.

"Perfect," Athena said, putting one of the silver necklaces on before putting the other on Echo. "Check it out."

Echo watched as a magnetic force pulled the two pendants together, forming a heart-shaped object.

"Neat, huh?"

Echo turned bright red. She didn't care how cheesy all of this right now was. She opened her locket, admiring the photo cutouts on either side. She got the one where they were laughing together and the one where they were face to face. Athena had the one where she was kissing her on the forehead and the other with her holding her from behind.

"If you call me cheesy, I swear," Athena said, putting her hands on her hips.

"N-No, that's not—"

"I'm just messin' with you!" She grabbed her by the hand. "C'mon! We're gonna get left behind!"

—

"You're wearing the necklace and earrings I gave you," Yuan said, looking over at Ingrid, who wore her hair up today, showing him her neck and shoulders.

"Oh," she said, reddening. "Yeah, I did."

"They look great on you."

She smiled back at him before shyly turning away. She spotted Lilly, who was grinning at her alongside her triplet sisters. Ingrid gave all four of them a look of irritation before she softened up as Yuan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know if I can finish this ice cream," he said. "Could you help me out with it?"

"Oh," Ingrid said, turning around, "sure—"

Without warning, Yuan smashed the cone in her face and their entire circle gasped. Ingrid stood in complete shock, unable to process what had just happened. She wiped her face before looking up at Yuan, who was glancing around awkwardly, very apparently attempting to suppress his laughter.

"I hate you so much, Leon," Ingrid said loudly.

"Me?" Leon said. "What the hell did I do?"

"I think it's because you infected her boyfriend," Athena said as she and Echo joined them.

"Oh!" Lilly said. "You two got matching necklaces!"

"Wanna see something cool?"

Lilly squealed as Athena demonstrated how their necklaces magnetically connected and formed a heart. "Oooh! That's so _cute_!"

"Here, let me help you," Yuan said.

"No," Ingrid said, but before she could get away from him, he had her by the shoulders and he kissed her on the nose, taking some of the ice cream off with his mouth. He continued to do the same with the rest of her face wherever there was ice cream to clean off.

"Whoa," Perseus said, turning to Leon.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I didn't teach him that at all."

By the time Yuan was finished, Ingrid was as stiff as a steel beam, though she simultaneously felt like melting into a puddle.

"Ready to get on the Ferris Wheel?" Yuan asked her.

She didn't answer. She wanted to flee instead. He gently took her by the hand and she was instantly goo, mindlessly following him wherever he led her.

"I've never seen my sister like that," Han said.

"Yeah," Nadine said. "This is just, wow."

"Hey!" Fiona said, looking up at Leon. "Could you do that to me, too? We can skip the whole ice cream part if you want!"

He chuckled nervously. "I don't know if your parents would appreciate that," he said.

"Aww, you're no fun!"

He chuckled again before reaching up to play with her cat ears. Unlike Ingrid, she welcomed every time he did this.

—

Team RWBY and Team JNPR along with Sun roamed the Vytal Festival, casually going from booth to booth, enjoying each other's company and reminiscing on old times.

"I wish we could compete in the matches," Ruby said with a yawn.

"Oooh!" Penny squealed before pulling her scroll out and dialing quickly.

"What's gotten into you?" Yang said to her.

"Yang on a minute!" Penny said, waiting for the other end to pick up. "Yeah, Professor Ospine? I-I mean, Oscar!" She giggled. "Actually, Ospine works perfectly, but anyway, I wanted to ask you about the tournament. Have the lineups been decided yet? No? Okay, good. I wanna talk to you about an idea I have later on, is that okay? Sweet! I'll talk to you later!"

"Idea?" Blake said.

"Oh!" Nora yelled. "Am I thinking what you're thinking?"

They both looked each other in the eye and instantly connected. Grins spread across either's face.

"Okay, I'm mildly worried now," Ren said.

"There's no need for worry," Nora said. "There's no way we're going down."

"Seriously, what's going on?" Jaune said.

"Are you all combat ready?" Penny said as she and Nora pointed at the entire group.

"I mean, yeah," Yang said. "We've been hunting for the last...wait, _what_?"

"I think I get it," Weiss said. "But...are you really sure about this?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, leaning back to back with Weiss. "We _do_ have the Silver Maiden on our team, ya know."

"You might have the Silver Maiden," Nora began, "but we have..."

"The Iron Maiden!" Jaune announced as he and Ren presented Penny, who folded her arms triumphantly across her chest.

"Roll credits," Blake said. "Seriously, none of us has fought a team battle in forever. It's gonna look like complete chaos out there."

"I think it'll be cool," Sun said. "I mean, it's not gonna be a real match, just an exhibition one, right?"

"Yeah," Penny said. "That's exactly what I had in mind."

They headed to the Ferris Wheel, where the youngsters were also gathered.

"What are the odds that they'd have the same idea we did?" Sun said.

"Hey, pops," Han said before bumping fists with his father.

"You kids having fun?" Sun said to the rest of the group.

"Yes, dad!" the triplets said in unison.

The big group separated out into smaller cells. Team RWBY and JNPR took a gondola together while Team LILY and APEX took another. Sun boarded one with the rest of his and Blake's children.

"You guys really need to stop teasing your sister," he said to Francine and Justine.

"But her boyfriend is so cute!" Justine said. "He's your old friend's son, right?"

"He is, but that doesn't mean you can just bug him like that."

"I wonder who's gonna be the first matchup on Monday," Perseus said as the Ferris Wheel stopped with their gondola at the very pinnacle.

"Oh, check it out," Athena said, looking out of the gondola. "We stopped at the, ahem, _apex_ of the ride!"

Her team bumped fists and exchanged high-fives with each other.

"Very funny," Ingrid said dryly.

"Relax, Kitty Bae," Athena said. "Team LILY is just as important. Haven't you noticed everyone wearing the pins your boss gave us at the beginning of the school year?"

"Uh-huh."

Athena looked to Lilly, who was gazing out at the horizon. She hadn't said a word since they had gotten on the Ferris Wheel. She spent most of her time staring off.

"Hey," Athena said to her.

Lilly turned to face her fellow team leader.

"Something bugging you?"

She shook her head. "Just thinking about stuff. We've come a long way since we started here, haven't we?"

"Mostly you," Ingrid said.

"I'd have to agree," Xanthus said. "You went from lowest-ranked student to being among the top five."

Lilly looked at the gondola's floor. While it was true that she was among the top-ranked students in the first-year class right now, it sure did not feel like it. She still had a long way to go before she reached a level that her mother had achieved. Weiss was her age when she and the others saved the world all those years ago.

"You're not thinking about your dickweed of a cousin, are you?" Leon asked her.

"No," Lilly said. "I was thinking about you guys."

He gave her a smile and she returned it. But her smile wasn't as bright as it once was. There was a sense of longing behind it, as if her smile were hollow. At that moment, Leon made a vow that no matter what, he would find that smile again.


	30. Chapter XXX

CHAPTER XXX

 _An Ode to Everlasting Peace_

Before anyone else knew it, the tournament was upon them. Monday saw the arrival of the bulk of the expected visitors from around the world. Beacon Academy housed the competitors and their families, but it was the rest of Vale that accommodated everyone else. Security this year was solid, with Atlas and Vacuo providing a massive robotic army and Mistral bolstering Vale's existing police force. Menagerie had also sent its own specialist Faunus teams, who were capable of spotting potential threats much more quickly than their human counterparts.

In charge of coordinating all of these efforts were Winter and her staff, chosen among the four kingdoms for their experience in the Labyrinth War. This year's Vytal Festival was a special one. While all previous festivals celebrated the human creative spirit and the uniqueness of each of the four kingdoms while espousing unity among all of humankind, this year would include the unveiling of a fifth kingdom.

It was a well-known fact that one of the consequences of the Labyrinth War was the alteration of Remnant's landscape. This was the primary reason the Jupiter Family and, by extension, Vacuo, were able to spring forward to their current status. Menagerie was another landmass which benefited from the geologic cataclysm triggered by the clash between Durandal and Caliburn. Where Menagerie had once been largely inhospitable to humans, it was now capable of supporting far more people, which was what originally enabled the massive influx of people and the subsequent population explosion.

In addition, the center of the continent revealed vast Dust deposits, which Menagerie's government now leased to both Hillphire Innovations and Jupiter Enterprises. Undoubtedly, this caused even greater tension with Atlas, which did not benefit anywhere near as much from the consequences of the previous war.

"I know all of you are eager for the tournament to begin," Oscar said as he addressed the entire audience, "but before that, I have a very important announcement to make. In honor of our Faunus allies' efforts in the Labyrinth War and the economic and civil progress to which Menagerie has contributed, we have put together this montage for you all to enjoy."

The lights dimmed as monitors around the arena broadcast the heroic efforts of the Faunus during the last war. The final images showed Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong fighting alongside their comrades against Salem's elites and emerging victorious.

"And now," Oscar continued, "ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and privilege to present before you today the Fifth Kingdom of Remnant, Menagerie, and her Queen, Blake Belladonna."

The crowd erupted into cheers. This was one of the most anticipated moments for this year's festival. It was no secret that Menagerie's population had swelled and that a large portion of the landmass was now habitable. They even possessed their own CCTS tower now, which bore enough of the intercontinental load that regular maintenance on the main towers was possible without overloading the entire system. Menagerie's participation in global communication was paramount to the completely uninterrupted worldwide network that Remnant's population had been enjoying for the past decade and a half.

Sun Wukong was presented as the Headmaster of Instinct Academy, the newly founded Huntsman Academy whose specialization was the protection of small settlements across Remnant. Standing beside Sun and Blake was Ilia Amitola, the current leader of the White Fang, which now served as Menagerie's standing army and its diplomatic outreach organization. Together, the trio served as the inner triumvirate that held ultimate authority should the Council of Menagerie fail to come to a consensus.

"Wait a minute," Lilly said, turning to Ingrid. "This makes you a princess!"

"Ohh, that is sicc!" Leon said before composing himself and elbowing Yuan in the side. "Hey, you better behave yourself. You're dating royalty now."

Ingrid peeked past Yuan and glared at Leon.

"Uh, s-sorry, your highness!" Leon said, straightening up.

"What the hell, guys?" Ingrid said to their group.

"So we've been best friends with a princess all this time and we never knew it," Echo said.

"I never knew anything about it either! This is literally the first time I've heard of it!"

"Surprise princess, huh?" Perseus said, mimicking Xanthus as the latter pushed up his own glasses.

"Can we drop this, please?" Ingrid growled.

"You know," Athena began, "I just realized this whole group is full of royalty. There's Lilly, Perseus, and now Ingrid. The rest of you aren't secretly the children of political leaders or mega-conglomerates, are you?"

"I'm just a country gal," Echo said.

"Same," Xanthus began, "n-not a gal, though, of course."

Echo snickered before stealing his glasses and putting them on herself.

"E-Excuse me!"

"Whoa, my head," Echo said, getting dizzy from the effect of his spectacles. "Jeez, what's your prescription? Over nine thousand?"

"I mean," Perseus began, turning to Athena and Leon, "you two are the kids of some pretty special people, too."

"But not _royalty_ ," Leon said, sneaking an arm around Ingrid.

"Hey!" she said, pulling away from him and pressing up toward Yuan. "Why don't you go after my sister and leave me alone!"

"But Fiona's not here." He looked over at Lilly, who reddened. "Although, I do have a snow princess with me." He wrapped an arm around her and she giggled nervously. "Hi."

"Hi," she said timidly.

"Sorry, dude," Perseus said, wrapping his own arm around Lilly from the other side, "but she accepted my dinner invitation tonight already."

"Pics or it didn't happen," Leon said smugly.

"What'll it be, then, Lilly? Will you accept the Pretty Red Rose or the Prince of Jupiter?"

"Uhh, how 'bout both of you?" Lilly said nervously.

"Like Winter Formal?"

"Yeah!"

"I accept this arrangement."

"Yeah, sure you do," Leon said.

"Okay, okay," Athena said as she and Echo wedged themselves between the two boys and Lilly, isolating her from them. "That's enough weirding people out!"

"Shucks," Perseus said, snapping his fingers.

"Oh, it's starting!" Lilly said as the stage was prepared for something else entirely. "Wait, what's going on?"

—

The parade began outside the arena, commencing with Vale's national guard, complete with a marching band, color guard, and fireworks. This segment of the show ended up in the arena with Oscar standing beside Blake Belladonna, a gesture of friendship between Vale and the new Kingdom of Menagerie.

The second segment of the parade originated in the skies, where the kingdoms' fleets were situated. Upon landing one of their airships, Atlas began marching their androids and Paladin mechanized battle suits through Beacon Academy's promenade, where spectators and competitors alike cheered on as General Holland himself led the troops, followed by his advisor, James Ironwood, and the commander of the specialist corps, Winter Schnee. Once their march was completed, the three were airlifted to the floating arena, where they stood beside Blake and her fellow representatives of Menagerie in a show of solidarity.

Next to show off their technology was Vacuo, which was, for all intents and purposes, entirely Jupiter Enterprises. Just like Atlas, Jupiter Tech consisted primarily of unmanned robotic weaponry with some mechanized infantry, but their technology included unconventional robotics as well, such as drones that took the form of various insects along with four-legged, dog-like battle robots. Their marching band was also far more lively than the rigid Atlas orchestra, earning the enthusiasm of the audience. Neptune Vasilias, headmaster of Shade Academy, led the Vacuo parade with Kronos Jupiter, president of Jupiter Enterprises. Upon reaching the quad, they, too, were airlifted to the arena to stand beside Blake and her triumvirate.

"Where's Mistral's fleet?" Athena mumbled.

"Good morning, Remnant!" a voice sounded in the loudspeakers as the entire arena went dark. "How are y'all doin' today?"

The crowd erupted into cheers.

"I said, _how are y'all doin' today_?"

The cheers intensified as a beautiful, freckled face with chocolate brown hair and pale blue eyes filled every single screen broadcasting the event worldwide. Mostly everyone knew Ariel Hillphire from her racing exploits, but today she wasn't here for her own sake, but for Mistral and, more importantly, her cousin's company, Hillphire Innovations.

"All right!" Ariel shouted. "That's more like it!"

The lights came on to reveal Ariel standing in the middle of the stage alongside the Lyon's Pride band, upon which the entire crowd's energy skyrocketed. Hillphire Innovations, which supplied the Mistral Army, entered the parade to rock and roll music, with Hollie Lyon and her son, Astor, providing the music along with their band.

The marching group was miniscule compared to the massive show of force by both Atlas and Vacuo, but where they lacked in numbers, they made up for with sheer technical prowess. Hillphire Innovations employed very few drones, all of which were remotely controlled directly by pilots or acting as short-range A.I. support for the manned machines that comprised the bulk of the armies.

The most impressive of the arsenal was composed of four powered-armor suits, whose mobility was unrivaled even amongst Hillphire Innovation's own ranks. Each suit was colored differently, forgoing uniformity for individuality. The first, and apparent leader of the group, was colored with a largely white scheme, with some blue and green detail scattered about. The second suit was mostly dark gray in color with tan patches here and there. The third and fourth suits were mostly white in color, just as the first suit was, except that the third suit's trim was dark blue in color, dark green on the fourth.

The quartet got into formations and performed every manner of outrageous maneuver, wowing the audience and earning the ire of their main competition, Jupiter Enterprises and Atlas Tech. Once the demonstrations were complete, all four pilots flew their suits directly into the arena, landing and posing just as Hollie's band finished their performance.

Ariel grinned. Every single second of that was timed with absolute precision. She could not be more proud of herself right now. This would most certainly be a massive boost for Hillphire Innovations and, of course, her own career as a hover bike racer.

"Folks!" she yelled into her microphone. "Give it up for Team Hillphire!"

The crowd roared as the four powered armor suits waved to everyone, with the one colored tan and light gray floating up to the audience and posing before retracting its helmet, revealing a handsome Huntsman with a smile that could make anyone swoon. He gave a group of ladies in the front two thumbs up before blowing a kiss to them and flying back down to the rest of his team, two of whom retracted their own helmets to reveal the leader of the entire company, Dr. William Hillphire himself.

"Put your hands together for our very own William Hillphire!" Ariel announced. "And his team, Jerry Brimstone, Sara Windfield, and Project Persephone!"

"Wait, Project Persephone?" Leon said. "That's that thing with the thing and the thing, right?"

"If you're gonna be that vague," Ingrid said with a hand on her forehead, "why even bother speaking?"

"She's supposed to be an artificial human or something," Yuan said.

"I don't think anybody's got that technology besides Hillphire," Perseus said.

Xanthus pushed his glasses up. He was the only one in this group who knew exactly what and who Project Persephone was. He couldn't help but consider himself part of a privileged inner circle, the only ones in the entire world who knew the real Penny.

"That's probably why that fourth suit's still got its helmet on," Athena said. "They don't wanna blow the secret."

Hillphire pressed a few buttons on his gauntlets and the entire suit retracted as he joined Blake and the other leaders in solidarity. As headmaster of Haven Academy, Hollie also stood by them. And with that, the Vytal Festival opening ceremony concluded and the entire ring was cleared out, leaving only Oscar in the center.

"And now," Beacon's headmaster said into his microphone, "without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce the first match of the festival, an exhibition match between two teams, both alumni of Beacon Academy, both of whom participated in the Labyrinth War and contributed to the defeat of darkness. Please, welcome to the ring, Teams RWBY and JNPR!"

Cheers went around as the two quartets approached the center of the ring.

"Go, mom!" Lilly cheered.

"Wait a minute," Ingrid said. "Don't _you_ have Myrtenaster?"

Lilly patted her mother's weapon. "Oh, crap, I do!"

"Is she gonna punch the other team into submission?" Echo said.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," a familiar voice sounded in the overhead loudspeakers. "My name is Qrow Branwen and I will be your announcer for this tournament."

"And I'm Tai Xiao-Long," the other voice sounded. "Today's exhibition match-up is sure to put all of you on the edge of your seats! Give it up again for Teams RWBY and JNPR!"

More cheers sounded throughout the floating stadium.

"Okay," Ruby said, pulling out Crescent Rose and deploying it.

"We should start this off with a Yang," Yang said, smashing Ember Celica together.

"I have a reputation to uphold now," Blake said, drawing both halves of Gambol Shroud.

"So do we," Nora said as she deployed Magnhild while Ren drew StormFlower.

Jaune drew Crocea Mors, deploying his shield with it and standing at the front of his team. Penny stepped forward, standing beside him along with Ren and Nora.

"Are you guys ready?" Jaune asked Team RWBY.

"That all depends," Weiss said, stepping forward with her team. She held a hand up in the air. Out of the locker rooms flew forth a great sword, easily larger than her in size, but she caught the enormous weapon single-handedly before driving it down into the ground and leaning against it.

"Shit," Nora said, readying her hammer.

"Pick your targets!" Ruby said. "Jaune's mine!"

"I'll take on Penny," Yang said.

"Me and Ren," Blake said.

"I guess it's us heavy hitters, Nora," Weiss said. "I'll start this off."

Weiss began the bout by rocketing forward, propelled by the power of her glyphs, which formed purely according to her will alone. She did not have to point or even look. Where she needed them to manifest was exactly where they formed. Nora blocked the heavy overhead strike with Magnhild, but her hammer wouldn't stop ringing with the force behind Weiss's massive claymore.

"Jeez!" Jaune said as the shockwave of the clash reached him and the others.

"Eyes forward!" Ruby said, dashing in and engaging her husband in a match.

"Let's see how our Hillphire Tech equipment can hold up against each other!" Penny said as she and Yang engaged in a high speed fistfight.

Blake and Ren were quiet as they focused on one another's attacks, keeping track of the rest of the battle simultaneously. Although they had all fought alongside one another in the war nearly twenty years ago, it was still an awe to witness the power of the Silver Maiden in action. She might not possess the power she once had, having sacrificed Durandal in order to keep the world safe, but her inherent strength was still unrivaled. She was likely the single most powerful being on the planet today.

Nevertheless, none of them had allowed their skills to waste away, especially not Penny, who took upon herself the mantle of defending the world against the Grimm. She noted the major speed advantage that Weiss had over Nora and took an opportunistic shot with her built-in arm Dust casters, but Weiss's reflexes were spot on. A glyph formed to her side to block the fireball completely.

"Man, she's good," Yang said as she continued to exchange punches and kicks with Penny. "Either that was completely instinctual or she's actually paying attention to every single fucking thing around her."

"I mean, I can do the same thing," Penny said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but you're _you_. The rest of us don't have scanners all over our bodies."

"Psh, I don't have scanners all over my body. Just my head."

They both chuckled before breaking their fistfight and somersaulting away from each other.

"Holy shit they are fast," Perseus said. He and the rest of their group were on their feet.

"I mean," Leon began, "have mom and dad been taking it easy on us all this time?"

"I think so," Athena said. "I've never seen either of them move that fast or hit that hard. Aunt Yang is also keeping up with Penny with no problems, and this is the girl who killed four Omegas at the same time."

"Speaking of Penny," Ingrid said, "was she actually on Team JNPR back in the day?"

"From what I hear," Xanthus began, intent on covering for Penny, "one of the members of Team JNPR, a girl by the name of Pyrrha Nikos, was killed during the early stages of the war. I'm guessing Penny's standing in as a substitute for her."

Athena looked down at her spear, which was in its retracted form at her side. Her fighting style was based entirely off of Pyrrha's, to the point that she even started to wear her golden hair in the same way. She wondered if she'd have what it took to take Pyrrha's place on Team JNPR, but from the way Penny was holding her own against Yang out there, Athena understood that she still had a long way to go before she could consider herself among these champions.

"Go Team RWBY!" Ruby yelled as she led a charge alongside Weiss, who surprised everyone when her sword split into multiple pieces.

It wasn't lost on this group of friends that this sword was the same as the one that their old comrade once wielded, that sword which was capable of splitting into seven different weapons, each one powered by a different type of Dust. The old system would be thrown at an enemy with the impact of all seven swords resulting in a spectacular explosion that had the power to obliterate just about any target.

The weapon Weiss now wielded was different. The six swords that orbited her as she held onto the central sword did not fly forward. They instead acted as six extra battle implements, staying by her side and protecting her from incoming ranged fire and even acting as close range offensive support.

Nora had the strength to keep up with any of them, but Weiss's attack speed was simply overwhelming and Penny quickly stepped in to take her teammate's place.

"Switch with me!" Penny said.

With a nod, Nora ran to engage Yang, who was heading in their direction.

"You've gotten faster," Weiss said as she clashed swords with Penny, the latter of whom had formed Aequitas et Veritas out of her internal Dust reserves.

"And you haven't slowed down a bit," Penny said with a grin.

"You don't think I've been sitting at home gardening all day long, do you?"

"Lilly tells me that's exactly what you've been doing."

"Well, that's not _untrue_."

Penny swung both swords and Weiss blocked with her main sword before sending the other six flying at Penny, who deflected or dodged each one with ease before dashing forward to continue her battle with the Silver Maiden.

 _"This is amazing!"_

 _"I can't believe what I'm watching!"_

 _"Didn't they say these guys are Beacon alumni?"_

 _"Man, if this is the opening match, I can't wait for the actual tournament to begin!"_

"And Weiss lands a powerful blow on Penny!" Tai announced. "But she's not down for the count just yet! Check it out, she's got multiple flying swords, too!"

Qrow looked over at Tai. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" he said, covering his mic with his hand.

"You better believe it," Tai replied. "Oh! And it looks like Yang is down for the count! That hit from Nora's hammer really does a number on ya, folks, but check out that teamwork! Blake moves in to help her up and it's back to business as usual!"

"Dad's really into this, isn't he?" Ruby said, standing beside Yang.

"He must be really bored being your guys' boss all year long," Yang chuckled.

"Ready, Nora?" Jaune said to his teammate.

"Ready!" she replied before rushing forward with Jaune to meet their opponents halfway.

"I don't remember any of our old team matches getting this intense," Blake said as she and Ren faced off.

"Yeah," Ren said. "They're all really enjoying themselves."

"Are you?"

"Sure. It's been a while for me, though. I've been relegated to the life of being a village chief."

"Doesn't politics suck?"

"It must be a lot worse for you being in charge of a whole country."

"Tell me about it. If it's not Atlas breathing down my neck, it's Jupiter. At least Hillphire doesn't give me a hard time."

"Oh, speaking of which, we should probably work on some of those deals later on. The Mistral Council wants Kuroyuri to take care of most of the Dust imports from Menagerie."

"Fine with me."

"I know verbal agreements are supposed to be legally binding, but we might want to draft a contract later on."

"Hey!" Penny yelled at them. "This is a battle! Not a board meeting!"

"Yeah!" Weiss said before projecting a ball of frost at the pair.

"What's wrong with you?" Blake demanded. "You almost hit _me_!"

"I knew you could dodge with your...cat-like reflexes, Blake!"

Yang burst out laughing in the middle of her fight with Nora, which was enough for the latter to almost catch her off-guard.

"Aww!" Ruby said. "What happened to Nice Weiss?"

Weiss's face gradually went into battle mode as her swords reconstituted into a single, giant claymore. "She died twenty years ago."

The other seven instantly went solemn, especially Penny, who also shared a strong bond with him. He was the first person she had made contact with during her imprisonment within her own body. To say that he had an impact on her life did not fully capture the essence of what he had done for her. It was the reason she swore to herself that she would allow nothing to happen to his daughter, that pure white flower, Lilly Schnee.

"Ready?" Weiss said, holding her giant claymore at the ready.

Penny held both of her swords outward, awaiting her opponent's moves. Weiss vanished from where she stood, followed in an instant by Penny, who met her halfway before they exchanged countless swings at one another, dodging and parrying with perfect skill.

"I don't get how Penny's able to take those hits," Perseus said. "I mean, I know she's good, but Lilly's mom is just as good, and she's got a bigger sword that she's swinging just as fast as Penny is."

"That's Penny for you," Leon said. "Honestly, I had no idea a fight between full-blown Huntsmen even looked like this."

"I think it's mostly them two," Ingrid said. "The others aren't even moving that fast. As good as my mom is, she's not even half as fast as Lilly's mom."

They all turned to Lilly, whose eyes were glued to the fight, completely unaware of what her friends were talking about. Leon bumped shoulders with her and she glanced at him before returning her attention to the match.

"Wow, she doesn't notice anything," Ingrid said, watching as Leon's arm crept up to wrap itself around Lilly. "Leon, please."

Lilly, without taking her eyes off of the fight, reached up and calmly peeled his hand from her shoulder. He turned to Ingrid and she shrugged.

Lilly had heard of the stories from the last war, but this was the first time in her life that she had witnessed her mother's combat prowess. It was now that she understood her place in the world. To reach her mother's height was always her goal ever since discovering her role in the previous war, but from what she was witnessing, Lilly was forced to acknowledge that this was a height that could never be achieved by any mere mortal. She looked down at Myrtenaster. Ivory was right. There was no way she deserved this heirloom. But as she continued to ruminate on it, she realized that there was _no one_ in all of Remnant who could possibly fill in these shoes.

"Ready?" Penny asked Weiss as they clashed blades.

"Think it's gone long enough?" Weiss asked her.

Both looked to the sides at their teammates, each of whom gave them nods of agreement.

"I think now's a good time to end it," Weiss said.

"Agreed," Penny said before somersaulting away from her opponent and holding an arm out at her. "Here goes! _Hellfire Cannon_!"

The whole crowd was on their feet as the intense beam of light flew from Penny's hand and impacted Weiss, filling the ring with a cloud of debris. The cheering had died down completely, replaced with anxious silence. Even Qrow and Tai were on their feet, utterly failing in their jobs as commentators.

Eventually, the dust cleared away, revealing a knight figure standing in the center of a glyph between Weiss and Penny. Both knight and summoner stood in identical poses, sword driven down into the ground, hands resting on the hilt.

"Wait," Perseus said.

"Is that?" Leon continued.

Every single one of them was thinking the exact same thing. After all, they hung out on that statue almost every day.

"Mom?" Lilly said, wide-eyed.

Ingrid looked over at her partner, who had her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"What a battle!" Tai yelled into his microphone, prompting the crowd to erupt into cheers and applause. It seemed that all around the globe, humankind was united in their excitement for the upcoming tournament.

"And there you have it, folks," Qrow said into his microphone. "Now, whaddya say we get on to the main event?"

"Let's hope it's as explosive as the exhibition match was!" Tai added.

In the middle of the ring, Teams RWBY and JNPR embraced and laughed, bowing to the audience as the cheers grew louder and louder.

"I think I pulled a muscle," Jaune said.

"Oh, just heal yourself," Ruby said, taking him by the hand as she led the way off the ring.

"Jeez, that hammer of yours hurts like a bitch," Yang said, rubbing her chin as she poked Nora on the nose.

"Shouldn't a got hit!" Nora said.

"Good match, everyone," Ren said.

They all waved to the crowds as they exited to the locker rooms.

"What do you think?" Penny said as they approached Oscar, Glynda, Ironwood, and Winter. "Will that serve as a proper deterrent for any bad juju this festival?"

"I think so," Winter said before embracing her sister. "Excellent show out there, Weiss."

"Yeah," Yang said. "Not bad for a gardener!"

—

Lilly took a deep breath, holding it in before letting it out slowly. Ingrid walked up to her.

"You okay?" she said to her partner.

"Yeah," Lilly said. "I'm okay."

"Got all your Dust and stuff?" Leon said.

"Locked and loaded. You guys?"

"Everything's in working order," Yuan said.

"Okay. Let's do this."

The shuffling had been completed and the first official match of the tournament was decided. Team LILY walked out onto the arena amid cheers and chants. Lilly led from the very front, ready to face her opponent head-on. Zero doubts crossed her mind today. She was focused on her target like a laser.

There was no other choice in the matter. After all, standing opposite of Lilly in the ring was her own cousin, Ivory.


	31. Chapter XXXI

CHAPTER XXXI

 _A Royal Feud_

Lilly Schnee stood at the edge of the arena with the rest of her crew, standing before the best team in the history of Atlas Academy. Theirs was the first match of the Vytal Festival, Team LILY against Team IVRY. The first round would be a battle between Schnee heiresses. Though Lilly was the eldest of her generation, Ivory, her aunt Winter's daughter, was the one who took the Schnee mantle upon herself, excelling in every way possible, being the youngest person ever to enroll at Atlas Academy.

Even now, she held the record. Despite being only sixteen years in age, Ivory was already a third-year student, admired and loathed equally by her peers and superiors. She had mastered the Schnee family Semblance before she was even ten years of age, surpassing her own mother's scores during her tenure at the academy.

On the other hand, Lilly only made it into Beacon Academy through a recommendation by her mother, the hero of the Labyrinth War. Lilly hadn't achieved anything for herself, attending an ordinary high school in her hometown instead of a primary combat school like everyone else at the academies. Of all thirty-two students accepted into Beacon this school year, she was the least prepared. And yet, in spite of all that, she had gone a long way, developing her own fighting techniques and succeeding in her own manner.

Even now, her determination to prove herself worthy of inheriting her mother's name was stronger than ever.

"We've got this," Leon said as he stood beside her.

She turned to him. He wore a smug grin as always.

"I don't care how good your cousin thinks she is," Ingrid said, standing to her other side. "If we can keep up with Team APEX, we can take Team IVRY down."

"Just remember your training," Yuan said from beside Leon. "As long as we stick together, they can't beat us."

"Lilly Schnee," Ivory said as she and her team squared off with Team LILY. "You've been a disgrace to the family name for far too long."

"Seriously, though," Leon said, folding his hands on top of his head. "Do you really have to be such a dick, Ivory?"

"This is between me and my cousin, Leon Rose. Stay out of this."

"If you've got beef with our team's leader," Ingrid said, stepping forward, "then you've got beef with all of us."

"You can stay out of this fight as well, Princess of Menagerie. The Belladonnas have no quarrel with the Schnees. This is a family matter."

"She sure has a big mouth for someone so small," Yuan muttered, making the rest of the team chuckle.

"Don't think I didn't hear that," Ivory said, drawing Elfenbein, her Multi-Action Dust Saber. "If you wish to underestimate my strength just because of my age and stature, you're in for a surprise."

"Whatever, princess," Leon said. "You're just mad because Lilly can rock her dress better than your little Atlas military uniform. That, and she's an inch taller than you. Is constant anger a small-person thing?"

"Guys, please," Lilly whispered. "Don't provoke her any more!"

Ivory couldn't help the grin on her face. There was no way the top-ranking team in all of Atlas Academy was going to lose to a second rate first-year group. Even as the biomes changed around them, she did not break her gaze for a moment. Her sights were set, and the instant the bell rang, she swung Elfenbein outward, creating twelve glyphs in the air to launch an explosive barrage of all sorts of Dust attacks.

"Holy shit!" Leon said as he and the rest of Team LILY scattered to dodge the incoming assault. "Hey! I was just kidding about the small-person thing!"

Ivory wore a grin as she created glyph after glyph, soaring at Leon with incredible speed. He quickly drew his sword, engaging Ivory in a short bout before she moved on, Viktor taking her place against Leon.

"Lilly!" Ingrid yelled as Ivory rocketed at her cousin, but before she could run to aid her team leader, she found herself face to face with Renata, Team IVRY's stealthy assassin.

"Great," Renata said. "The only Faunus on the team and I have to be paired up against you."

"What's wrong with the Faunus, huh?" Ingrid said, gripping Shadow Blitz tightly.

"Just that your senses are too keen for my own good," she said before drawing her katana and engaging Ingrid.

"What's wrong, dear cousin?" Ivory said, delivering an onslaught at Lilly, who barely managed to block and evade. "Why aren't you fighting back?"

Lilly didn't answer. Part of her still hoped that she could reconcile with Ivory, but she knew that she was too far out of reach, especially with the rage burning in her eyes now. She would have to win this fight if she were to have any chance of earning Ivory's respect. Then again, beating her might only serve to increase her ire.

While the others fought duels with their respective opponents all around the arena, Lilly and Ivory faced off in the center of the ring. Lilly's constant smile was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a fearsome glare. She held nothing against her cousin, but Ivory's incessant taunting pushed her to her limits. On top of that, she was more determined than ever to come out on top.

"You have no right to bear Myrtenaster," Ivory said, pointing Elfenbein at Lilly. "Lay down your weapon. I would hate to have to humiliate you in front of all these people."

"No," Lilly said sternly. "My mother gave me this weapon for a reason. Yielding it to you would bring more dishonor than anything else I could do."

"So, you're going to be stubborn, huh? I guess that's _something_ you inherited from our family. And your hair color. You don't even have our eyes or our Semblance. You're nothing more than a bastard child."

That was the last straw. Lilly's grip on Myrtenaster was tight, her knuckles whitening. "You take that back," she seethed.

Ivory grinned. "It's true, isn't it? Your father is nowhere to be found."

"I said, take that back!"

"You'll have to defeat me if you wish to earn my respect, Lilly Schnee."

Ivory swung Elfenbein outward, forming roughly two dozen glyphs all around, each one ready to launch a devastating Dust attack against Lilly, but the latter wasn't one to be taken down so easily. She, too, held out her own weapon, Myrtenaster, that Dust Rapier handed down to her by her mother. Without having attended a primary combat school, Lilly was the only one here who did not have her own crafted weapon. Instead, she inherited her mother's weapon, and beyond that, her legacy.

"Do you think it will be so easy, Ivory?" Lilly said, her clothes billowing with a quiet wind surrounding her.

"Hmph," Ivory scoffed. "Let's see if you can take on a double barrage!"

"Give me your best shot! Just remember that you're challenging the daughter of the Silver Maiden!"

—

"This is going to be an interesting battle," Tai said as he and Qrow commented on the fight down below. "Team IVRY is known to be the best team in all of Atlas's history, holding an undefeated record. The team is also led by the child prodigy, Ivory Schnee. According to reports, she entered the Academy at only thirteen years old. She probably gets her talent from her mom, huh, Qrow?"

"Yeah, she probably does," Qrow said. "But don't forget, Tai, that the rest of her team ain't slouches either. The guy facing off with Leon Rose is Viktor Nikolayev, an expert swordsman."

"Yes, even to the point that Leon's forced to engage with his weapon in sword mode instead of scythe. It's a difficult weapon to use that he must have gotten from his mother and you, although it seems he based his design more on yours than Ruby's."

"What can I say? I'm a good influence."

Tai laughed. "There's also Renata Nováček, who's currently facing off with Ingrid Belladonna, our very own Princess of Menagerie. She's got the perfect counter to Ingrid's heightened Faunus senses."

"Right. Her Semblance enables her to 'blind' all of her opponent's senses. It's limited to only one target at a time, but it basically makes her the perfect assassin. Even a Faunus can't hear or smell her coming."

"You think that's why she's luring our favorite Faunus princess into the forest zone?"

"No doubt about it."

—

Ingrid found herself isolated in the middle of the forest biome. This fight should have been over from the start, but where was Renata? No matter how hard she concentrated, Ingrid could not pick up on her opponent. Sensing danger from above, Ingrid rolled out of the way to dodge an incoming overhead strike from her opponent.

"Damn it," Renata said, squaring off with Ingrid as the latter broke her staff in half and held both bladed weapons in either hand. "I knew I should've picked one of your other friends."

"I had a feeling your Semblance had something to do with blocking all of my senses," Ingrid said. "Even now, I can't smell you."

"Yeah, well, secret's out."

Just then, Renata vanished from Ingrid's vision and she gasped as she sensed danger approaching. Renata swung her katana, cutting straight through Ingrid's neck and severing her head, but the thing she had eliminated was one of Ingrid's identical shadow clones. The real Ingrid was gone, somewhere up in the trees.

 _I can see her now,_ Ingrid said as she spied on her opponent from high up. _So, she has to concentrate on me to be able to use her Semblance. As long as I stay out of her sight. Still, she's not an amateur. The moment she detects me will be the instant she blinds me._

—

"So," Leon said, clashing blades with Viktor. "You talk?"

He didn't respond.

"I figured."

"Now is not time for talk. Now is time for fight."

"Oh, so you do talk."

Without another word, Viktor swung his zweihänder, missing Leon's neck by mere inches.

"Yo, relax!" Leon said. "This is a tournament, not a fucking fight to the death!"

Viktor followed up with a downward swing and Leon held up his sword to block the heavy strike, whose force reverberated throughout his entire body.

 _Shit, this guy is strong,_ Leon said as he struggled against him. _But I'm faster!_

He swung a number of times, forcing Viktor to get on the defensive, but the latter countered by grabbing Leon by the wrist to try and wrestle him to the ground. Leon managed to escape the grapple, but something felt terribly wrong. The moment Viktor made physical contact with him, it was as though his hand had grasped more than just his arm. It was as though he tore away a piece of his very soul. He took note of the aura meters displayed above. His own aura would not recover past 80%.

 _What's going on?_ he thought before concluding that Viktor's touch somehow permanently decreased his aura's maximum capacity. _Shit, this isn't good. I can't let him touch me a second time._

—

Meanwhile, in the desert landscape, Yuan dueled fiercely with Yorath Schtolteheim, who was as adept with his spear as Yuan was with his Ji halberd. Neither spoke a word, concentrating solely on the battle while keeping an eye on their auras and the other combatants. It didn't take long for Yorath to realize just how rapidly Yuan's aura recovered and Yuan was quick to deduce that the increase in his opponent's physical ability corresponded inversely to how much aura he had remaining, returning to normal as soon as his aura regenerated to maximum.

—

"I wonder how Yuan Ren will deal with Yorath's Semblance," Tai said. "These kids are the sharpest Beacon's ever seen. I'm guessing both are pretty much aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses by now and are preparing to exploit those weaknesses while guarding their own."

"Well, don't forget Yuan's own Semblance," Qrow said. "If Yorath's boost becomes too much for him to handle, he might just use his own Semblance on the guy. But that would mean expending his own aura in the process."

"Nevertheless, Yuan's got the fastest aura regeneration we've seen, not to mention the largest reserves we know of."

"Takes after his dad, doncha think?"

"Definitely."

—

Lilly found herself hiding in the thickest parts of the forest zone, trying to catch her breath and allow her aura to regenerate. She looked up at the monitors. She was at 50%, steadily climbing, but not fast enough. She gathered she was the slowest at aura recovery among them, but there was still something she hadn't tried yet. She was down to her last Dust cartridges, having used up all of her ammunition just trying to defend against Ivory's relentless glyph assaults. She looked at her cousin's own aura meter. They had been at similar aura levels, but Ivory had already recovered to max while she was still only at 70%.

"Lilly!"

She stiffened.

"Oh, Lilly! Come on, I just wanna talk!"

Lilly rolled her eyes. As if she'd fall for a stupid trick like that.

"Mostly I want to teach you a lesson. You're using Myrtenaster completely wrong. If you hand over Aunt Weiss's sword to me, I will show you how it's intended to be used."

Lilly kept watch over her aura meter, staying hidden behind her tree.

"There you are!"

She tensed up as a tree no more than ten yards away from her was uprooted by a powerful Explosive Dust attack.

 _Is she trying to kill me?_ she thought in complete shock.

"Just kidding," Ivory continued. "You know, I'll eventually figure out where you are." She blasted another tree. "Even if it means burning down this whole forest."

Lilly glanced at the aura monitors. She was at 90%. More than enough to continue fighting. She waited until the moment was right before peeking out. Ivory was facing the other direction and she advanced, easily maintaining the stealth that she had learned from both Ingrid and Echo, but before she could get to her target, something tackled her to the ground. She looked up, but there was nothing there. Regardless, something continued to press down on her and she felt hands grasp her neck.

"Lilly!" Ingrid yelled as she tackled the invisible attacker.

Lilly coughed and wheezed as she watched Ingrid roll around on the ground multiple times with a girl who appeared out of thin air. When the two faced off, Ingrid didn't seem to be able to notice her opponent.

 _She can make herself invisible to certain people!_ Lilly said before projecting an Ice Dust attack at the girl, allowing Ingrid to see her target even if for a moment.

"Pay attention!" Ivory yelled before launching a triple barrage, thirty-six glyphs facilitating six types of Dust attacks, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Air, and Explosive.

The resulting blast tore apart a section of the forest landscape, stripping away trees and grass and silencing the crowd, which was on its feet. When the debris cleared away, everyone was shocked to see Lilly completely unscathed, face fierce and Myrtenaster ready for battle. In the air between her and Ivory was a massive holographic projection, a bronze-colored pentagonal arrangement of a number of geometries with runic lettering printed about.

Penny looked over at Weiss, who was on her feet, eyes wide open. There was no doubting what ran through her mind right now. Penny's empathy Semblance allowed her to feel all of the emotions going through Weiss's heart, shock, confusion, ache, longing, and so much more. Penny had to fight just to keep all of that from overwhelming her, not to mention the emotions of everyone else around. Every single one of her old friends had one thing on their minds now.

This girl, Lilly Schnee, truly was the daughter of the Knight of Kameloth.

—

"Whoa," was the only thing Tai could manage. "Sh-She just blocked, a triple barrage from Ivory, with a...glyph? No, that's no glyph."

"That's a rune," Qrow said, equally shocked.

Tai covered his microphone. "You mean _those_ runes?"

"The one and only. She _is_ his daughter."

—

Oscar and Glynda were also on their feet, just as shocked as everyone else. They had heard Penny's reports, but witnessing it firsthand was an entirely different thing altogether.

"That explosion wiped out one-third of the forest," Glynda said, "but Lilly's rune was able to protect her from it. Her aura wasn't even touched. It's back to max."

"Yes," Oscar said, taking a sip of his hot cocoa. "She truly is his daughter. It's interesting, too, don't you think?"

"What's that?"

"She might possess these runes, but it's nothing like the way _he_ used to use them."

"Yes, you're right. He called on them through the power of his Nexus, which would manifest the runes on his body before he could use them. But she seems to have command of them instantaneously. I would go so far as to say _instinctively_ based on Penny's reports."

"Indeed. It's peculiar, too. She uses the runes in a manner almost identical to the way her mother uses her glyphs."

"I had noticed that as well. Do you think, perhaps, that this is her Semblance?"

"No. Her aura did not even flicker with the manifestation of that rune."

"Then, what we are witnessing is pure magic, the same as with her father."

Oscar nodded, taking another sip from his mug.

—

Ivory was incensed. While the rest of her team and Team LILY were more awed by Lilly's use of runes in place of glyphs, Ivory saw this as a corruption of their family's Semblance.

"How dare you," Ivory growled before she raised her voice. "How dare you taint our family's legacy?"

"The fuck is she on about?" Leon said.

"You've taken everything that is pure about our Semblance and tarnished it with _whatever_ it is that has made your eyes the color of dirt!"

"Ivory," Lilly growled. "I've had enough of your crap."

"And I've had enough of _you_!"

Both girls dashed at each other, Ivory powered by her glyphs and Lilly powered by her runes. When they were within spitting distance, both ground to a halt before pointing their weapons forward, projecting an equal number of glyphs and runes, each one launching an identical elemental attack at the other, resulting in a magnificent series of explosions all around them, which was intense enough for the rest of their teams to be forced to take cover from.

It wasn't enough to stop any of their fights, however. Viktor was quick to resume his match with Leon while Renata vanished from Ingrid's primary senses, but she was starting to get used to the attack patterns and Renata could no longer get the drop on her.

In the meantime, the duel between Yuan and Yorath reached a stalemate. Yuan had managed to whittle down Yorath's aura to 25%, but the immense amount of physical enhancement he received from such a low aura level made it impossible for Yuan to keep up with him. Strength aside, the speed boost alone made him faster than Yuan, who was no slouch. Yuan did figure out a counter, however. As a last resort, he extended his own aura to his opponent's, returning it to a high enough level to bring his physical augmentation back down. In short order, Yuan's own aura would recover to full and they would be back at square one.

—

"It looks like Yuan and Yorath have reached a dead heat," Qrow said, leaning back in his chair.

"Yep," Tai said. "Yuan doesn't have the physical strength to knock out all of Yorath's aura before Yorath can pummel him with that incredible power boost and Yorath can't make do with his boost before Yuan negates it by supplying him with aura. Talk about genius on Yuan's part."

"He's gonna have to knock him out of the arena if he wants to win this one, though, but Yorath ain't stupid. This is gonna hinge on one of the others getting eliminated and double-teaming Yorath with Yuan, but if one of Team LILY gets knocked out first, it's over for them."

"You don't sound like you have too much faith in Beacon's team."

"It's not that I don't have faith in them. It's just that Team IVRY is the best Atlas has ever seen, probably the best _anyone's_ ever seen."

Tai stared at Qrow for a moment, he appeared relaxed, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded on top of his head, feet resting on the console, but he could see that his eyes were fixed on the fight below, particularly on the duel between Lilly and Ivory. The younger Schnee was known to be the best of the best and Lilly had started off her school year as the weakest ever to enroll at any of the academies, but she now matched her younger cousin blow for blow.

—

"Hold still, dammit!" Ivory said as she projected another Fire Dust attack, which Lilly dodged.

" _You_ hold still!" Lilly said, returning fire with a tornado that emerged from a pale green colored rune.

"A tornado?" Leon yelled.

"Focus!" Viktor demanded before pinning him down in a blade clash. Just as he was going to reach to damage his aura again, Leon vanished in a cloud of rose petals and Viktor lost his balance, looking behind for his opponent, who had teleported a whole twenty-five yards away. Both looked up at Leon's aura meter. Each teleportation instantly zapped 10% of his aura.

"Fuck those stupid monitors," Leon mumbled. "Giving away our secrets and shit."

"Is fair," Viktor said. "You know my secret. I know your secret. We know secrets. Is fair."

"God, I love your accent."

"My accent?"

"Yeah. It sounds hardcore as fuck."

"Mister Leon. You need focus on fight."

"I am focused. I also gotta relax, dude. You're too intense."

"Fight always intense. Now, no more talk. We fight."

"Sure. My aura's back to eighty. Thanks to you, dick."

In the meantime, Ingrid figured out a weakness to Renata's Semblance. Somehow, even though the latter was blinding all of Ingrid's senses, there was always a tingling sensation that accompanied each of the invisible assassin's attacks.

"So, that's it," Renata said, facing off with Ingrid. "You're one of the Faunus who have extremely heightened instincts."

"I think I get why you don't like fighting against my kind," Ingrid said.

"Yeah. Most Faunus have heightened senses, but my Semblance can make me undetectable to even those. There is a percentage of the Faunus population, though, that have such extremely heightened instincts that they can get around my Semblance's effects. You happen to be one of them."

"Lucky you, huh?"

Renata chuckled. "Yeah, well, I guess it's perfectly fitting that your dad would name your new academy Instinct. I might as well stop wasting my aura on my Semblance. Let's make this a true battle of warriors."

As Ingrid and Renata engaged in a classic sword duel, the battle between Lilly and Ivory intensified. They had migrated all the way to the center of the ring, both breathing heavily, auras at half.

"You think Dust attacks are all I've got?" Ivory said.

"Don't tell me you were holding back all this time," Lilly said.

"Hmph!"

Ivory drove Elfenbein into the floor, causing a little over a dozen glyphs to open up on the ground all around her. From the glyphs emerged a small army of apparitions of Grimm, each one of the Alpha variant. Lilly counted eight Alpha Beowolves, four Ursa Majors, two giant Deathstalkers, and two Atlesian Paladins possessed by Geist Grimm.

"Now, Lilly," Ivory began, "this is where you fall!"

"Lilly!" Leon yelled before blocking an attack from Viktor.

Yuan also found it impossible to assist his team's leader with the perpetual stalemate against Yorath, as did Ingrid, who couldn't afford to turn her back on the extremely skilled assassin Renata.

Lilly was on her own in this fight, but she was ready for this. She had acknowledged from the outset of the battle that this would be one that she would not have any help with. It was all the better for her. She needed to face Ivory on her own and prove her wrong on _all_ counts.

 _Think, Lilly, think! She can summon all of those things, so you can, too! But it can't just be random Grimm or big robots. You need to think bigger. Bigger, stronger, faster! Something that can take an army of these things down without breaking a sweat!_

The first image to flash in her mind was the knight statue standing guard in the center of Beacon Academy's quad. Her mother had also summoned a knight earlier in the day during the exhibition match between Teams RWBY and JNPR. That knight had the power to stand its ground against Penny's mighty attack. It would certainly have what it takes to face all of these conjured apparitions head-on.

"Now!" Lilly yelled as she pointed Myrtenaster at the ground in front of her, causing a new rune to appear, one colored with a deep indigo and filled with intricate designs and countless runic lettering. "Knight of Remnant, I summon thee!"

Rising from the dark indigo gateway was a knight armed with a massive sword. Up in the gallery, Weiss was on her feet, eyes fixed on the match below. Her friends were just as tense, not knowing what to expect out of this new creation. Would it be the same as Weiss's knight, Arma Gigas? Upon closer observation, though, they all figured out why Weiss was so captivated by Lilly's summon. That wasn't Arma Gigas standing in the middle of the summoning rune.

It was identical to the one that stood in the middle of Beacon Academy's quad, the physical representation of their fallen comrade.

Down below, Lilly's knight proceeded to utterly annihilate the opposing force of monsters, dodging and striking with adeptness unrivaled, ending the fight against all sixteen apparitions—including the two armed with machineguns and missiles—before standing in front of its summoner and kneeling before her. Lilly couldn't help the smile on her face as she reached out to touch hands with the knight before it dissipated into nothing.

Up in the gallery, Penny felt her heart breaking into pieces and she looked over at Weiss, fighting to suppress the tears, but she was powerless to stop them. After all, Weiss was now crying as well, both hands over her mouth. She stood up to join her old friend, holding her tightly.

"Is that him?" Weiss said meekly.

Penny shut her eyes, squeezing out more tears. She wanted to believe just as much as Weiss did, but she knew that was nothing more than an apparition that Lilly had summoned through the power of her runes.

"I guess it's too much to hope for," Weiss mumbled.

"Shh," Penny said, holding her even closer. "It _is_ him. That's Lilly down there. He lives in her."

"Yeah," Weiss sobbed. "You're right."

In the meantime, Ivory was furious. That summon that Lilly had performed was yet another blight in her eyes, but furthermore, it had single-handedly defeated all sixteen of her summons. This was no longer a tournament to her. It was personal. She was determined now more than ever to demonstrate to that mongrel where she truly belonged.

"Lilly!" Ivory screamed. "Let's see if you can withstand this!"

Ivory aimed Elfenbein heavenward, rapidly forming so many glyphs in the air as to obscure Lilly's view of the arena behind her. There were too many to count, but Lilly estimated there might have been five dozen out there, probably more.

"You've survived my triple barrages, Lilly Schnee!" Ivory screamed once again. "Show me! Show me the power of a bastard child! Stand before my hex barrage!"

—

"Seventy-two glyphs," Renata said with her mouth wide open. "I've never seen her open so many at once."

"That's gonna wipe out her aura," Ingrid said.

"It's probably a good idea to run right about now."

"What about our duel?"

"We're _both_ gonna get blasted away if we don't run."

"Good point."

—

"Captain!" Yorath yelled out to his team leader. "You're pushing yourself too far past your limits!"

"Should we stop her?" Yuan said.

Yorath growled at him before turning back to Ivory. "This is our business, not yours."

Yuan was stunned, maintaining his distance.

—

"'Kay," Leon said, facing the other direction. "Time to nope the fuck outta here, bitches."

"We continue fight later!" Viktor said just before Leon teleported away, giving him a small salute in agreement and teleporting one more time.

—

Lilly stared in awe at the massive number of glyphs around Ivory. Every single one of those glyphs was pointed at her. If she didn't do something, she'd be history. There was enough firepower aimed at her right now that her aura would be shredded along with probably her body and the entire arena.

"You're insane!" Lilly yelled at her cousin.

"And _you_ are _finished_!" Ivory screamed back, her face painted with rage.

This was it. Lilly had no choice. She held Myrtenaster up in the air as well before calling on as many runes as she possibly could, coming close to the seventy-two glyphs Ivory had formed, but still falling short. She wouldn't give up, though. She would keep on going until she could no longer stand.

Ivory could not tolerate the sight of Lilly matching the number of glyphs she had in the air and she screamed as she launched all of her attacks at once. Lilly did the same, grimacing with the activation of so many runes. It felt as though she would pass out from the exertion, but she fought through it all, determined to make her own mark on the world.

The explosion resulting from the clash between the two Schnee princesses pushed the power of the protective force fields to the limit and even the audience was uneasy from the strain the barrier showed, but the shields withstood the conflagration. As a collective sigh of relief passed over the crowd, they anxiously focused their attention on the ring, which was covered with a thick cloud of dust and debris.

Everyone watching was silent, including Qrow and Tai, who were on their feet along with everyone else, waiting for the dust to clear.

Ivory opened her eyes as she regained consciousness. She rubbed her head, recalling the explosion that had just engulfed the arena and knocked her out. She looked up at the monitors. Her own aura was down to exactly 15%, just enough to keep her from being eliminated. She looked around, realizing that she had been blasted from the middle section all the way to the edge of the ring, only inches from defeat by ring-out.

She stood up, entire body sore. Even though her aura was intact, that explosion was apparently powerful enough to physically damage her through the protective shielding of her aura. She walked through the dust cloud, getting away from the rim. When the debris finally cleared, she spotted Lilly, who was lying unconscious outside the ring, propped up against the metal wall at the far side of the arena. Her aura was completely shattered. Blood ran down the side of her chin.

"Lilly!" Leon yelled, abandoning the fight with Viktor and dashing to his leader. Yuan and Ingrid had also ditched their duels to the astonishment of everyone watching.

"Why would they throw the fight like that?" Renata said, walking up to Yorath and Viktor, who were just as dumbfounded. "They could've kept going."

"I think I understand," Yorath said before marching to Ivory. "Captain, are you okay?"

Ivory didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on Ingrid, Leon, and Yuan, who were tending to their leader.

"Lilly, please!" Leon shouted, trying to shake her awake.

Lilly slowly opened her eyes.

"Thank god!" he said as he held her tightly.

"L-Leon," she said, reddening. "That...hurts..."

He quickly let her go. "Oh, shit, sorry!"

"You buffoon," Ingrid said. "You okay, partner? You took quite the hit."

Lilly looked around. "Are we outside the ring?"

Yuan nodded before reaching over and wiping the blood off her chin with his thumb.

"Did you guys get thrown out, too?"

"No," he said. "You were flung out of the ring with the force of the explosion and you were knocked unconscious, so we went to you right away."

"Oh." She realized that they had thrown the fight for her sake. "I see."

"Hey," Leon said. "That match doesn't matter to us as much as our team captain does. Don't worry about us, okay?"

That wasn't the problem, though. Lilly had set out to prove something to herself. The only thing she proved today was that Ivory was right. She was silent as she led the way back to the ring to stand before Team IVRY and congratulate them. Tai and Qrow announced the winners by ring-out and the crowd responded with lukewarm applause. Despite the intensity of the exhibition match between Team RWBY and Team JNPR, no one could have expected the results of the first official round of the tournament.

"So, your highness," Leon said to Ivory, mock-bowing to her. "Have you come to gloat?"

Ivory didn't answer, instead going from member to member to silently shake hands with them. Her team followed suit.

"Good match," Viktor said, holding out a hand to Leon after shaking with Lilly.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Leon said, holding his hands up. "You're not gonna do that thing to my aura again, are you?"

"We're not fighting. So, no. And aura will fix in few hours. Don't worry."

"Okay, good." He shook hands with his opponent.

"Not bad, for a first-year," Renata said to Ingrid.

"Not bad, for a human," Ingrid replied, exchanging grins with her.

"Your loyalty to your leader is strong," Yorath said to Yuan.

"I was going to say the same to you," Yuan replied.

"The captain saved our lives. We owe her everything."

"Lilly's the light of our world. We all swore an oath to never let it fade."

"Yes. I can see that."

Lilly was looking down as Ivory stood in front of her for what felt like forever. Eventually, their eyes met. None of the anger was in Ivory's eyes anymore. There was frustration—a lot of frustration—but the ire was gone. Ivory extended a hand and Lilly tentatively reached for it. The handshake was the most awkward either had ever taken part in. Without a word, Ivory led the way off of the ring to the locker rooms.

"Okay, then," Leon said, folding his hands on top of his head. "So, anybody hungry? Cuz I could eat an entire Ursa right now."

"I don't think those are edible," Yuan said.

"I don't care. If my teeth were strong enough, I'd already be eating these rocks on the ground."


	32. Chapter XXXII

CHAPTER XXXII

 _Where Champions Gather_

Lilly hung her head in shame as she approached her mother. Weiss would not have any of it, though, and she firmly held her daughter by the shoulders.

"You're not allowed to hang your head like that," Weiss said.

"But, I lost," Lilly said, her voice tiny.

"Lost? Lost what?"

"The match."

Weiss chuckled sardonically. "Lilly, look at me."

She looked up into her mother's pale blue eyes.

"Do I look like I'm disappointed in you right now?"

"Are you?"

"Never!" She held her daughter close, cradling her head in her hand. "I could _never_ be disappointed in you!"

"Mom..."

"That's enough berating yourself. You're just like..." Weiss's heart skipped a beat as her eyes rapidly filled with tears.

Lilly pulled away, looking up into her mother's face. She had her eyes closed, squeezing out tears as she gritted her teeth. Lilly opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped herself. It had been a long time since the last time she had seen her like this and she knew that only time would heal her heart.

"I'm sorry, Lilly," Weiss said.

It was Lilly's turn to hold her closely. "I love you, mom," she said.

"I love you, too, my dearest."

After spending several moments in each other's arms in total silence, they pulled away from one another.

"I told you once before, Lilly," Weiss began, "I am so proud of you. First of all, you made it to the tournament. You were selected to represent Beacon on the world stage. That alone is an enormous honor."

Lilly smiled.

"Even more than that, you took on the best team Atlas has ever raised and you countered every single thing Ivory had to throw at you. And your new power—"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that," she said.

"What about it?"

"I don't have our family's Semblance, but yet, I can do this." She held out a hand, forming a Wind Rune over her palm before allowing it to vanish.

Weiss was powerless to stop the smile from forming on her face.

"Mom, you know where I get it from, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She held out her hand and summoned a glyph. "The rest of us are capable of doing this, but you seem to have taken the family Semblance and modified it to suit you personally."

"But, where does it come from? From what I can tell, it's almost—"

"Magic?"

"Y-Yeah."

Weiss turned her hand around before calling on a more powerful variant of the Water Rune, a Tsunami Rune. The rune appeared on the back of her hand, glowing with intense power. Lilly's eyes were open wide.

"You can do it, too?" she said.

"Not the way you can," Weiss said. "You've taken two elements and combined them to form something new. But I think yours is more powerful."

"Huh?"

"Even with this rune on my hand, I still need to concentrate to cast one of the spells." She held her hand out at a nearby rock. " _Frostatem_."

"Whoa," Lilly said, watching as the rock was covered in ice.

"What about yours?"

"Well," Lilly began, drawing Myrtenaster and pointing it at the same rock before a Fire Rune projected in the air, launching a blast of hot air that melted the ice around the rock.

"You didn't even have to think," Weiss said. "It's purely instinctive for you."

"Honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing."

"Because it's a part of you."

"What _is_ it?"

Thinking about the original source of this phenomenon made Weiss's heart heavy. As much as she wanted to talk about it, the mere thought made her want to break down again. Even two decades later, she could not face the reality.

"It's something that came out of the last war," Penny said, walking briskly to them.

Weiss noticed her give a quick nod. In some ways, Penny's empathy Semblance made things a lot easier, even if it was quite the burden. And yet, Weiss could not help but notice the similarity between her Semblance and his.

"The end of the Labyrinth War gave rise to a whole load of stuff," Penny continued. "You remember our talk about the Maidens, don't you?"

"Yeah," Lilly said. "We were talking about how they were basically magical beings and stuff and they were originally meant to help us fight the darkness, but then humans abused them and it just became a big mess."

"Well, your mum here is one such Maiden."

Lilly's eyes widened as she turned to her mother. "Wait, _you_ are a Maiden?"

"Not the same ones we were talking about," Penny said. "Weiss isn't any of the traditional Maidens. She's a new legend that was born just under twenty years ago, a phenomenon known now as the Shieldmaiden, whose sole purpose is the defense of all Remnant against any threats."

"But, like, how much more power do you have than the other four Maidens?"

"That's not important," Weiss said. "Look, why don't we talk about all of this over some coffee? You've mentioned that the café on campus is pretty good, right?"

"Not as good as yours, of course, but yeah, it's okay."

"Good. Invite your team. Let's have something to drink. You'll join us, won't you, Penny?"

"Of course!" she said.

—

"Everybody ready?" Athena asked her team as they prepared for their first match.

"Yes, ma'am!" the other three said.

"Okay, let's go demonstrate to them why our name is APEX."

They passed by Team IVRY on their way to the ring.

"Good luck out there, Athena Rose," Ivory said to them without looking.

"That was quite the battle you had with your cousin, Ivory Schnee," Athena said, also not looking at her.

Perseus, Echo, and Xanthus exchanged glances.

"Dat tension, doe," Perseus said quietly.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Tai's voice sounded throughout the stadium. "We're thrilled to bring you the third match of the tournament! Team PDTR delivered another awesome show in that last match-up, but please, welcome to the stage Team APEX of Beacon Academy and Team ASTR of Haven!"

Cheers sounded throughout the arena as both Athena and Astor led their teams to the center of the ring. Before the match even began, the two leaders reached out and shook hands.

"Listen, Athena," Astor said, flipping his shoulder length, golden-brown hair back. "I love you, but I don't intend on taking it easy on you."

"I'd be insulted if you did," Athena said. "Oh, and just because we grew up together, don't expect _me_ to take it easy on you either."

He grinned. "That's what I'm talking about." He turned to rejoin his team. "ASTR!" His team responded with a lion-like roar.

"Team APEX!" Athena called out as she rejoined her own team, which responded with the old battle cry, "Hooah!"

"Yes!" Tai yelled. "Give it up, folks, for Teams APEX and ASTR!"

The crowd went wild as the biomes changed, a rocky wasteland on one side and an aquatic landscape on the other.

"Great," Perseus said. "There's literally nowhere for our sniper to hide."

"I don't know about that," Athena said, glancing at Echo, who grinned before fleeing into the wasteland behind them.

Xanthus watched as their team's archer disappeared into a massive pile of bones. This place provided nowhere near as much cover as a forest would have, but there were still plenty of places for her to hide. This might have been even more beneficial as there were no obstacles to block Echo's line of sight. Her pinpoint accuracy with Sentinel would make this fight an extremely tactical one.

"Okay," Athena began. "Most of Astor's team specializes in close-to-midrange combat. We've got extra long range in Echo, plus we're all pretty good with our guns. Perseus and I will move in for blitz and power attacks. Xanthus, you provide support and engage anyone who tries to go after Echo."

"Acknowledged," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"Shall we dance?" Perseus said, holding up his shield and sword.

"Lion's Roar!" Astor shouted, upon which every single one of their members aimed their musical instruments and let out a massive sonic shockwave.

"Holy shit!" Athena said as she and Perseus guarded with their shields. "Xanthus, get behind us!"

He only just managed to get to cover, but it didn't seem to matter. The sound waves from their attack ignored defenses altogether.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," Perseus said before gagging and puking to the side. "The fuck kind of music was that?"

"I told you you shouldn't've eaten before our fight, you dumbass!" Athena yelled at him.

"Ow, stop yelling! My head hurts!"

"C'mon," Astor said, putting a hand on his hip. "That wasn't it, was it?"

Athena growled at him. "Fuck you, Astor."

He flipped his hair back again before bringing up his guitar. "Let's play another song for 'em, boys!"

Each of Team ASTR was armed with a musical instrument. Astor used an electric guitar that transformed into an axe. His other team members were armed with a saxophone that doubled as a club, a trumpet that transformed into a war mace, and a violin used as a mace and whose bow also served as a sword. Each of these instruments was capable of projecting a powerful sound wave whose effects ranged from disorientation to outright internal organ damage.

"Try and stay out of the range of their shockwaves," Athena said.

"Easier said than done," Perseus said.

"Shit, they're at it again!"

Before Team ASTR could play another tune, however, Xanthus was already between them and his teammates, both eyes glowing their respective colors along with his two swords. He blasted the other team with a flurry of ice and fire waves, scattering them about before powering back down.

"Xanthus!" Athena said.

"Don't worry," he said. "I've been practicing with Penny. I've gotten the hang of my Semblance."

She and Perseus looked up at his aura meter. It had only dipped by 10% while the damage done to Team ASTR brought them each down to just under 90% each.

"Let's not blow this chance!" Perseus said, leading the charge alongside Athena.

—

"Yes!" Lilly cheered as she and the others watched the match on the televisions and projectors all around campus. "Go Team APEX!"

"Astor's team is pretty good, too," Yuan said.

"Yeah, but their strength lies in their unison instrument attack," Penny said. "Individually, their sonic weapons are pretty strong, but together it's basically like a big shockwave."

"So it won't be a problem unless they all get together and hit them at once."

"That's right," Weiss said. "And with Echo out in the badlands sniping at them, they won't get a second chance to assemble again. Notice how she didn't fire at them?"

"I was wondering why she didn't stop them the first time," Ingrid said.

"Athena's team is basically perfect," Penny said. "Not only does every single member trust each other, they're all incredible tacticians. Athena might be the shot-caller, but Xanthus is their strategist, Echo has that instinct, and Perseus has the strength to execute all of their tactics. They might not have the instinct that Team LILY has, but their tactical prowess is unmatched. In this case, Echo won't take any shots at the opposing team unless that shot is perfectly clear and will have a definite effect. She's an incredibly patient huntress, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike."

"Like right now," Weiss said as an arrow soared from the badlands to impact one of the members of Team ASTR, taking down his aura to thirty percent.

—

"Steve! Fall back!" Astor yelled, but it was too little, too late.

Xanthus did not let Echo's arrow go to waste, immediately dumping all of his strength into his Semblance and activating the overdrive on the Sword of Chaos. His opponent had no idea what the red glow of his sword meant and Xanthus overwhelmed him with a single attack, sending him flying out of the ring while knocking his aura down to less than ten percent. Xanthus's training kicked in and he managed to shut down his Semblance before it drained his aura down to nothing. He looked up at the monitors. He was left with only 40% and he returned to the formation with Perseus and Athena.

"You've gotten better," Perseus said. "And here I thought all you did with Penny was study."

"We do study," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses.

"Oh, really? What do you study?"

"All sorts of things."

"Oh, I'm sure you do plenty of studying. I'd study the crap out of her, too, if she gave me private lessons and stuff."

Xanthus began coughing.

"Look what you did, Perseus," Athena said with a chuckle.

"You know what's awesome?" Perseus said.

"That Xanthus is dating faculty?"

"Please!" Xanthus whined, making Athena crack up.

"Well, that, too," Perseus said. "But what I was gonna say was how Echo only fired one friggin' arrow and that changed the whole game."

"Their stupid sound wave bullshit won't work anymore either," Athena said, "not with just three of them. But be careful. Astor is a Faunus, and I think the three left are, too."

"He is?"

"Yeah. Lion Faunus."

"Shit. And since he doesn't got a tail or extra ears, I'm banking on something physical. Like hella strong."

"Yep. He's got retractable claws, too."

"I was wondering why it hurt so much when he hit my shield with his axe. Figures."

—

"Whoa!" Lilly said as Astor's kick sent Perseus flying.

"That's a Faunus for you," Ingrid said.

"He's a lion, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Aww! Another kitty!"

She growled before Lilly reached up and played with her cat ear and she pulled away from her. "You're worse than Leon!"

Lilly giggled before poking her on the cheek.

"These last three are pretty good," Penny said. "They've figured out how Xanthus's Semblance works, too. The good thing is Perseus hasn't been using his very much. Neither has Athena."

"Yeah," Leon said. "Although we all know my sister can end this fight just like that."

"That thing that she did against Team PDTR was a fluke. While I believe she could do it again, it takes an inordinate amount of luck. Besides that, she's up against three Faunus at the same time. We know Astor is a lion Faunus, but we don't know what the other two are. Considering that they can take a hit from Perseus with his Semblance active, it's not a stretch to say that they might be just as strong as Astor."

"Was that other guy just a human?" Yuan said. "The one that got knocked out?"

"No," Ingrid said. "Team ASTR was all Faunus. They just got Steve by surprise."

—

"Oh, what an upset!" Tai said into his microphone. "Xanthus has just been eliminated!"

"Looks like the kid misjudged how quickly his Semblance drained his aura," Qrow said. "Cuz remember, this tournament has rules. Even though you can still fight without your aura—which is stupid, really—drop below 15% and you're out."

"That's right. I'm thinking he might have tried for a gamble, but it didn't pay off."

"Well, you know how it goes. You can't make money if you don't spend any first."

—

Ivory was high up in a private gallery, watching the Team APEX fight closely. She had studied all of their videos, all but memorizing their fighting styles and tactics. Both Teams APEX and IVRY were the only undefeated teams throughout the academies and both were run in similar ways. Ivory held her team with an iron fist. Each one of her comrades followed her every command without question. And even though she valued each member's input, the final say was hers and hers alone. Athena was far more democratic in her approach, even if she held her team just as tightly as Ivory did. Most of Team APEX's tactics were formulated by Xanthus, the team's designated strategist, while Perseus and Echo also had a say in their formations.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ivory turned to face Winter. "Hello, mother," she said with a bow before turning back to the fight. "I was merely observing the battle between the best teams Beacon and Haven have to offer."

"Are you expecting to face Team APEX?"

"I'm hoping for it."

"Ivory."

She looked her mother in the eye.

"Listen to me. I want you to know that you have nothing to prove. Is that understood?"

Ivory couldn't remember the last time her mother was this gentle to her.

"I am proud of you no matter what you accomplish down in that ring."

"Thank you, mother," Ivory began, "but I intend to fight the best of the best and come out on top."

"If that is what will please you, then do it. But know that I will be proud of you whether you come in first place or last."

Ivory looked idly to the side before turning back to her. "Mother, what are you trying to tell me?"

Without another word, Winter closed the gap between herself and Ivory, holding her daughter tightly to her chest. Ivory found herself trembling, eyes wide. She could not recall when her mother held her like this. She must have been but a child the last time she felt a touch so tender, so reassuring.

"I love you, Ivory," Winter said. "I know I don't say that often enough, but I love you so much."

She wanted to say it back, she really did, but Ivory was not familiar with the concept. It wasn't that her mother never showed her what it meant to be loved. That was far from the case. Winter could not be a better mother than she was to Ivory, but nevertheless, Ivory couldn't reciprocate. Rather, she didn't know how.

"I'll leave you to your meditation, now," Winter said. "Good luck on your next match."

Ivory was dumbstruck as the door closed behind her mother. She reached up to touch something wet on her cheek. She wasn't crying. That was something she didn't know how to do either. But those weren't her mother's tears on her cheek. Whose were they? Were they really her own?

Team APEX's victory over Team ASTR was announced over the loudspeakers. Ivory couldn't help but look over at the gallery across the stadium from where she stood, where those voices came from. Her fists balled up of their own accord and she forced them to calm back down before leaving the room to get some fresh air and congratulate Team APEX on their victory.

—

Lilly cheered with Penny as Team APEX came out on top.

"Mom! Mom!" Lilly yelled. "Did you see how they coordinate so fast and so tightly and how Echo was like almost reading Athena's mind and stuff and how Perseus was able to keep up with Team ASTR even though his partner got knocked out all early and ohmygod that was so cool!"

Weiss couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's energy. "Lilly, don't ever lose your spirit."

"Ahh! That was so awesome!"

"I'm glad she's over our defeat already," Ingrid mumbled to Yuan.

"She's a fast healer," he said. "In more ways than one."

"Let's go get them so we can grab ice cream together!" Lilly said.

"Oh, tomorrow we can watch the other events," Leon said. "They're using the school's track and field for the first time for all the new stuff they're doing."

"That's a good idea," Weiss said.

"I'll text Ruby and everybody!" Penny said.


	33. Chapter XXXIII

CHAPTER XXXIII

 _As Pure as Fresh Snow_

Lilly yelped as she was hurled back into a wall. She coughed, trying to regain her bearing. She just barely dodged out of the way of a massive column of rock, which obliterated the wall behind her.

" _Gehärtete Verteidigung_!" she yelled, increasing her defensive abilities just in time to withstand an incoming monster, which struck her hard enough to knock her back, but with the Earth Rune spell active, her aura barely received a scratch.

She returned fire with a Wind Rune, sending out bolts of lightning to char the three monsters that had come to finish her off. The massive ogre was still in the distance, preparing to hurl another projectile at her.

She fled back into the prison to try and put some distance between herself and that enormous monster. She gasped as the entrance was reduced to rubble by the boulder the ogre had thrown at her. She listened as its heavy footsteps came closer and closer, but it stopped just outside.

 _Okay,_ she thought. _Now to check this place out. The heck was that thing anyway? I've never seen anything so big before._

She hurried through the dungeon, Myrtenaster ready to rock and roll. A Shield Rune orbited her, ready to protect her against any threats. It would only withstand a few hits before dissipating, but it was better than nothing. She also held a small Fire Rune in her left palm, ready for offense at a moment's notice. In this miniaturized state, it wouldn't have much power, but it took only a split second to expand it to a full sized rune and deploy whatever attack she needed.

She stopped as another group of those twisted creatures rounded a corner to face her. She had come to call these monsters "Corrupted," naming them after the fact that they tended to represent the distortion of humanity's darkest fears and desires. She had faced countless Corrupted since she began exploring this alternate reality, each creature symbolizing some kind of repressed emotion. With this family, whose other world represented a dungeon of torture, each of the Corrupted reflected the constant state of fear and maltreatment of the victims and the anger and hatred of the father, who constantly abused them in the real world.

The most violent of the creatures were clearly a representation of the aggression and cruelty borne by the father and, perhaps in a strange way, the mother and children as well. There were also variations of the Corrupted which were passive, choosing to flee from Lilly instead of engaging her. There were many instances of them, but the moment she would try and pacify their fears, they would turn on her and she would be forced to defend herself.

She only needed to figure out a way to get to the core of all this. Only then would she be able to free them. But she was beginning to run out of strength for the day. She had been in this place for more than three hours now, probably coming up on four. She would have checked her scroll for the time, but electronics didn't always function in this other world. Sometimes it would, but during the most inopportune moments, they would cease.

"So," she said aloud to the Corrupted standing before her. "Are you here to fight me?"

The three creatures screeched at her before dashing forward. She didn't hesitate to maximize the power of the Fire Rune in her left hand, projecting it outward for a fiery attack, which consumed all three and reduced them to ash.

Lilly took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She planned to investigate this place a little bit more before returning to her world. She needed to at least make some progress today. That endless wasteland had given birth to this prison merely by her walking forward for a few miles. Surely something would show itself if she would just check these decrepit halls.

The torches around her went out simultaneously, prompting her to call upon the power of her runes. She summoned a Fire Rune, forming a fireball to follow her around and serve as a lantern. If only she had as much control over this power in the real world as in here, the battle against Ivory and her team would have been easy. It was no matter, though. Lilly understood that this was where she truly belonged. Winning tournaments meant nothing to her if she couldn't do something as simple as save a family from their corrupted alternate reality.

Finally, some luck came her way. She dimmed the fireball that followed her around as she took cover behind a small piece of broken wall. This torture room below her today was different from all the other rooms. It was cavernous, guarded by two great ogres just like all of the other people's alternate worlds. The difference here was the presence of two instead of just one giant monster.

She could feel the intense fear and hatred emanating from the center of this room, where an apparition of the father continued to beat and verbally abuse apparitions of the mother and their children. She could barely see them in their translucent state, but there were red vein-like things coming out of all six of them, some of the veins disappearing into the ground while others extended high up into the ceiling.

 _That's it,_ she thought. _I've finally found the core. But I can't just attack now. I'm only at half strength and there are two super ogres down there. I promise I will be back. For all of you. I'm gonna save each and every one of you._

—

"Man, what a bummer," Leon said as he and the others took shelter under an awning at the campus café. "I can't believe it just started coming down on us right in the middle of the Vytal Festival of all things."

"Yeah, but look how much fun everybody's still having," Perseus said. "It's crazy that the booths are all still open and people are still lining up to play games and eat and stuff."

"Looks like they all prepared for this, too," Xanthus said, noting the abundance of rainy season gear.

"Oh, hey, look who's decided to join us," Athena said, putting a hand on her hip.

"Sorry I'm late!" Lilly said, running through the downpour and joining her friends underneath the awning.

"Do you not own an umbrella or something?" Ingrid said.

"I left it in the dorm. Didn't think it was gonna start pouring down on us all of a sudden."

"You know," Leon said, "the wet look isn't bad on you."

Lilly frowned at him.

"I'm just saying!"

"Super saying?" Athena said, sharing a high five with her brother.

"The rain is so warm, too!" Lilly said, stepping back out into the shower and looking up at the sky. "It's so different than the freezing rain back in Atlas."

"Lilly," Ingrid began, "please don't ever lose that purity of yours."

She giggled before rejoining her friends under the awning and wringing her clothes dry. "I'm gonna get something to drink. Anyone want anything?"

"I'll go in with you," Yuan said.

"Text me your guys' orders if you want anything, 'kay?"

Yuan trailed behind Lilly, checking to make sure the rest of their friends were out of earshot.

"So," he began, standing side by side with her in line. "How was today's incursion?"

"Final stretch," she said. "I'm saving that family no matter what."

"You look like you've gotten the hang of it."

"Yeah. I only wish I was as good in the real world as I am in there."

"What's it like, anyway?"

"Creepy. All of the worlds reflect the mental state of the persons trapped inside."

"You said mine wasn't all that different from the real world, right?"

"Yeah. From what I can tell, the less the person is affected by whatever it is that's keeping them down, the less the world is altered. For you, the other reality was really similar to the real world with subtle differences, like barred windows, lots and lots of sealed doors, and stuff like that. You also didn't have any monsters, and freeing you only took some talking and showing you pictures on my scroll."

"Huh. Sounds easy enough."

"Yeah, but this one I'm in right now, it's completely different from the real world. None of Vale is there at all. It's just an empty landscape with a giant dungeon. And it's crawling with Corrupted."

"Corrupted?"

"Yeah, the monsters. Each one represents some kind of repressed fear or something."

"So, how do you get in and out?"

"I look for where the veil is thinnest."

"Huh?"

"I can't really explain it. I can just sorta...feel it."

"Like a tear in the fabric of reality?"

"Yeah. Kinda like that."

"So, you just step through?"

"Well, yes, and no. I have to, like, will myself through, you know?"

"I think I get it. Kinda like lucid dreaming."

"Yeah, like that. You realize and acknowledge that you're in another world and then you will yourself back to the real world."

Yuan looked past Lilly at a familiar face. His companion noticed his glance and she looked in the same direction. It was her cousin.

"The coffee here isn't spectacular," she said to them, "but it isn't bad."

Lilly shrank as Ivory walked to her and Yuan.

"Do you drink this every day?" she asked.

"Almost every day," Lilly answered.

"Hmm. Well, if you decide it to be acceptable, then who am I to pass judgment?" She began to walk away.

"Good luck in the doubles round," Lilly said.

Ivory stopped and turned around to face her.

"You bringing Renata with you?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"She makes a pretty good second, huh?"

"I'd rather not discuss our team strategy out in the open, but yes, she is an excellent companion. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to confer with my team."

"Okay!"

Yuan looked over at the younger cousin before turning back to Lilly. None of the hostility from their first interaction was present in that exchange just now. The match must have raised her respect for Lilly significantly. There were no taunts, no insults, nothing of the sort. And Lilly didn't seem to have any hard feelings over their past either.

"I feel bad for her," Lilly said.

"Huh?" Yuan said.

"She puts a lot of pressure on herself."

"I suppose it runs in the family."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, facing him and throwing her hands on her hips.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, it's our turn to order."

"Hey! Don't dodge the question!"

—

Ivory stood at the edge of the awning, enjoying her cup of coffee. She had had so much better back home, but this was acceptable. The price wasn't horrendously high either. She could sense Team APEX and Team LILY's eyes on her, but she ignored them.

"Miss Schnee," a familiar voice said from her right.

She turned to face him. "Demetri Holland," she said.

"Please, excuse me for not having put aside the time to see you before," he said with a bow, "but my professors advised me that it wouldn't be wise to mingle with old friends before a match just in case we would find ourselves in the ring together."

"You made the correct decision, Demetri, both for your own team and for mine."

"Thank you, Miss Schnee."

"Enough with the formalities. We're not in Atlas anymore."

"Very well, then, Ivory."

She gave him a smile. "Much better."

He was the only one she permitted to call her by her given name. Everyone else referred to her by her family's name or by her rank. She watched as he deployed an umbrella.

"Were you headed somewhere?" he asked her.

"To the guest dorms," she answered. "I need to rest."

"Shall I accompany you, then?"

"Yes, that will do."

Meanwhile, the others watched as the two walked closely together under the umbrella.

"So," Leon began. "Demetri has a thing for the younger girls."

"I was actually gonna say he has a thing for masochism," Perseus said. "Does he like being yelled at or something?"

"You guys are so dense," Ingrid said.

"Seriously," Echo said.

—

"We're halfway through the Vytal Festival already," Ivory said as they continued to walk to the guest dorms. "My condolences for your team's defeat in the doubles round, by the way."

"Paolo and Theo were honestly the worst choice to pair up," Demetri said.

"I agree. Your leader would have done much better with either you or the knife thrower at his side."

"You flatter me."

"Not at all. I am more than familiar with your fighting style. We did attend Atlas Primary Combat School together, remember?"

"Yes, of course, but you graduated before I did."

"Well, I wasn't going to just forget you. After all, you were the one who insisted on keeping contact with me."

He reddened, reaching for the door to the guest dorms and opening it for her.

"Demetri," she began, facing him and looking up into his face. "What are you doing right now?"

"Well, I _was_ going to wallow in self-pity with the rest of my team," he said.

"If you're interested, I'd like to invite you up."

"If that is what you wish."

"Yes. Let's talk. It's been too long since we last talked."

Demetri remained a step behind her as she led the way to the fifth floor, where her team's room was located. One thing hadn't changed. No matter where they were, people always stepped out of the way for her. They didn't all necessarily know who she was, but the Atlas Military uniform alone earned either displeasure or deference from everyone who passed.

"Officer on deck!" Yorath said as he, Renata, and Viktor stood at attention.

"At ease," Ivory said, entering their room. "Viktor, Renata, Yorath, this is Demetri. Demetri, my team."

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," Demetri said, giving them all a salute.

"Ah, so you're Demetri," Renata said. "The boss's talked about you."

"You can stow it, Renata," Ivory said.

"Yes, ma'am," she acknowledged with a chuckle. She eyed the rest of her team and gestured with her head to vacate the room.

"We will be downstairs if captain needs us," Viktor said, leading the way out of the room.

"Very well," Ivory said. "Renata, don't tire yourself out."

"Yes, ma'am," she said. "I'll be ready for our match tomorrow."

"Good. Dismissed."

"You really have a handle on your team," Demetri said, watching as they filed out. "How much older are they than you?"

"Renata's the eldest," Ivory said. "She just turned twenty-one in June. Viktor and Yorath are both turning twenty-one in the winter."

"How do they feel being commanded by a sixteen-year-old?"

"If they had a problem with it, they wouldn't be following me, would they?"

"That's not what I mean. Obviously they have enough respect for you as their team leader, but have you actually sat down and asked them how they felt about it?"

"I have. It's important for a team leader to know her team, after all. At first, it was a little awkward, but after I proved myself to them, they fell in line."

"I'm guessing Renata is your partner."

"You are correct. Atlas's team selection isn't as chaotic as Beacon's. All teams are assembled based on merits and compatibility. My Semblance and direct fighting style are a perfect complement to Renata's indirect approach. Yorath's technical prowess is the other side of the coin in respect to Viktor's physical strength."

"I see."

They both spent some time in silence. Demetri stared out the window, listening to the downpour, while Ivory looked at herself in her full-length mirror, straightening up her uniform and her hair.

"Demetri," she began.

He turned around to face her, making eye contact with her in her mirror.

"Why did you wait so long to get in touch with me?"

He didn't answer.

"When I graduated to Atlas Academy, you let not a week go by between calls and e-mails, but the moment you shipped off to Beacon, I had to wait until spring to hear from you again."

He thought about his answer for a bit. She turned to face him, her strong, bright blues connecting with his dark brown eyes.

"Was there something about me that repelled you?"

"No, never," he said.

"Then, why? I had come to expect your call every weekend, but then classes started in the fall and I heard nothing from you. I suspected the time zone difference had a part to play and perhaps you had a busy schedule, but then months went by."

"Ivory, it wasn't as though I didn't want to contact you..."

"...But?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Part of me has always thought that...I don't know. That perhaps you were unreachable for me."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you're a Schnee. Because you're Ivory Schnee. Because your mother is Colonel Winter Schnee, Commanding Officer of the Atlas Specialist Corps. Because you're the youngest to ever enroll at Atlas Academy and holder of the highest scores to exist in _all_ of the academies, because you're leader of the only undefeated team in all of Atlas, because you're...because you're so amazing."

She felt her cheeks warming up. "And that's why you stopped contacting me?"

He didn't answer. He could see the hurt in her eyes, even if she would never vocalize it. Most people would never recognize it either. Only he ever knew what she was feeling behind that perpetually emotionless visage. He wondered if her team ever had the privilege of seeing the Ivory that he had come to know, not the daughter of Winter Schnee, not the heiress to a legacy, but the girl by the name of Ivory Schnee, the one who had hopes and dreams and aspirations and fears and anxieties.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Ivory," Demetri said, realizing that his confession had hurt her more than anything.

"No, it's okay," she said, turning away from him. "There's no reason for you to apologize."

"That's not true. What I told you just now, it hurt you."

She flinched.

"What I said was not untrue. I truly do think you're amazing, Ivory. But at the same time, I do realize that I just dumped an unreasonable amount of expectation on you, and that's not what I intended at all."

A few moments of silence passed between them. The rain had stopped a while ago.

"Ivory," Demetri began, "are you busy today?"

She turned to face him. "Not in particular. My match isn't until tomorrow."

He paused for a moment. "Would you like to accompany me on the fairgrounds?"

She stared at him without an answer.

"As friends, of course."

"Yes, as friends," she said abruptly. "I would be delighted to join you."

"Shall we watch some of the other events as well? I hear the javelin toss is being held today."

"I'll leave today's schedule entirely up to you, Demetri."

He smiled.

—

Lilly spotted Ivory and Demetri together in the distance, watching the track and field events as they shared some snacks. She couldn't help but smile to herself. She hadn't realized that the girl Demetri had talked about back in Winter Formal was Ivory, but it made sense. After all, the Holland Family was closely associated with the Schnee Family.

The old slurs Ivory had hurled at her didn't matter to Lilly one bit. She was happy to see the ice melt from her cousin's hardened heart. In Lilly's eyes, everyone deserved to be happy. She figured she would have eventually ventured into even Ivory's alternate reality to try and change her heart and free her from her frozen prison. At least it didn't have to come to that. Instead, she had to focus on that tormented family.

 _Tomorrow_ , she thought. _I'll save you guys first thing tomorrow. I promise._


	34. Chapter XXXIV

CHAPTER XXXIV

 _With Victory in Sight_

"Where's Lilly?" Leon said, looking around.

"Probably doesn't care to watch Ivory win another match," Ingrid said.

"Yeah, well, I'm here to watch her lose."

"Probably not gonna happen," Perseus said. "She's too good, dude."

"And Renata's Semblance makes her a very dangerous opponent," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses. "It may drain her aura during activation, but a few seconds is really all she needs. Had you not been as skilled as you are, Ingrid, I think she would have made short work of you."

"Gee, thanks," Ingrid said.

"I'm pretty sure he was complimenting you," Leon said. "Don't be such a grumpy kitty." He reached up to touch her cat ears and she smacked his hand away.

"You can touch mine!" Fiona said, throwing herself on him from behind.

"See? You should be more like your sis. Live a little."

Fiona giggled as she leaped over the chair and sat in Leon's lap, nuzzling him as he played with her cat ears.

"Oh, jeez," Ingrid said, putting a hand to her face as she shook her head.

—

Lilly looked up at the apartment building her targets resided in. This would be it, her last chance at saving them. If she failed now, it would be impossible to return to the center of the dungeon. With each incursion, the number of enemies grew, the topography changing to make it more and more difficult to navigate. She needed to win here. There was no other option.

She walked into the alleyway. This would be the first time she would venture into that world in broad daylight, but with nearly everyone focusing on the tournament, she figured she wouldn't have to worry about witnesses. When she was sure no one else was around, she concentrated, willing herself into that other world. In a flash, her environment was shifted into that same gloomy dungeon from before. She was just outside the mad torture house, which had completely supplanted the apartment complex, replacing it with stone and cold iron.

She drew Myrtenaster, looking at it for a moment before pushing open the dungeon gate. Not even two steps in and she already found herself accosted by variations of monsters, each one symbolizing guilt, hatred, pain, depression, all sorts of negative things that one could attribute to a family abused by a tormented father.

"I won't let you stop me!" Lilly said before engaging the monsters.

—

"Renata!" Ivory shouted before her teammate darted to the side to attack Samantha Quinn, Team SQRL's leader, from a tangent.

"Be careful, Sam!" Rhonda said.

"Don't worry," Samantha said. "I won't let her get me so easily."

Renata's Semblance's greatest weakness was that she could not target more than one opponent at a time, but she had long since worked out some way around this problem. She could toggle between targets quite easily, so long as the number did not exceed three. The fewer the targets, the better, of course.

"Crap, I can't see her!" Rhonda said, canceling her attack.

"Behind you!" Samantha yelled.

"I'm your opponent!" Ivory said before attacking with a number of glyphs powered by a variety of Dust.

—

"Holy shit," Leon said. "That teamwork."

"Can you believe she's only friggin' sixteen?" Ingrid said. "And she's the leader of a third-year team."

"It's not really all that surprising," Athena said. "Her mother is Winter Schnee. And she idolizes Lilly's mom. It's not that difficult to see her getting so strong."

"Yeah, but this is ridiculous," Perseus said. "Honestly, you might be the only one in this entire building who has a chance against her. She's as good as any of the seasoned Huntsmen we've seen."

"I'd like to see her fight Penny," Echo said.

"That wouldn't be a fair fight," Xanthus said. "We all saw how she handled a match against Lilly's mom."

"And a battle against four Omegas," Yuan said.

"Yeah, that wasn't a fair fight, either," Leon said. "For the Omegas, anyway."

—

Lilly hid behind a wall, staying out of sight as she crept past monsters. She couldn't afford to waste her time with all of these mooks. She needed to get past them and get to the center of this dungeon. There were a lot more than she had anticipated, though. This wasn't going to be as easy as any of the others.

 _Heck, they've all just been getting tougher and tougher,_ she thought before taking advantage of an opening between the Corrupted patrols.

She quietly made her way into an opening, dodging another patrol of Corrupted.

 _It's like they're on high alert or something. Are they expecting me?_

She kept moving further and further in, eventually getting into a fight she had no way of avoiding. She attacked first, slashing one Corrupted in the throat before moving on to the next, stabbing it in the heart. She turned to the rest of the group and held out Myrtenaster, projecting a Water Rune in the air and attacking with a blast of cold air, freezing every single one of them on the spot.

Without wasting any more time than she needed to, she continued on, running down corridor after corridor. The layout of this building had changed again, just as she expected it to, but at least it was still mostly straightforward. She found herself at a balcony overlooking the cavernous torture room. Something was different. The father was among the tormented as well.

Unlike her previous incursion, she could now see the red veins as clear as day. Each of the six family members had a set of them rising from their bodies and disappearing into the ceiling and walls.

Lilly looked for a way down, but there was none. She was going into an adjacent hallway when another Corrupted blocked her path. This one was more vicious looking than the others.

 _This is it,_ she thought. _When these things start showing up, it means I'm on the home stretch. It also means I better not get caught or I'm done for._

—

"Captain," Renata said. "I'm sorry."

Ivory looked up at the monitors. Her teammate's aura was at 14%, effectively eliminating her from the match.

"I got careless—"

"I don't wanna hear it, Nováček!" Ivory yelled. "You did your best. It's time for me to carry my weight."

Renata gave her partner a nod before stepping out of the ring, leaving Ivory to fend for herself against Samantha and Rhonda, whose auras had just recovered to 80%, less than Ivory's full bar, but still a threat in a two-on-one match-up.

"Don't underestimate her," Samantha said to her partner.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Rhonda said. "She almost knocked me out of the ring, remember?"

"Thank goodness for your Intangibility Semblance."

"Okay, head-on attack?"

"Let's make it four-on-one."

Samantha activated her Semblance, splitting herself into three perfect copies of herself. Ivory gripped Elfenbein hard, preparing herself for the fight of her life. Samantha's Semblance had a glaring weakness. Unlike Ingrid Belladonna, whose Semblance enabled her to create shadow copies of herself, Samantha's made two equal copies, essentially putting her in three places at once, but her power and concentration was distributed evenly among all three. All Ivory had to do was focus on one and her aura would be depleted rapidly.

The problem was that Samantha wasn't her only opponent today. She had to keep an eye on Rhonda as well. Her intangibility Semblance made it easy for her to dodge whatever she wanted to.

"Four against one, huh?" Ivory said.

"Dammit, she has something up her sleeve," Rhonda said.

Ivory projected a massive wall of ice to separate herself from her opponents. Rhonda was quick to make herself intangible and pass through the giant glacier, but she found herself face to face with what she could only figure was a gigantic robot or something.

"Holy shit!" she yelled as she dodged a barrage of bullets. "How can a summoned thing have live ammunition?"

"Because its master is supplying it!" Ivory yelled before attacking.

Samantha managed to circumvent the ice sheet, but the summoned Atlesian Paladin already had her in its sights.

 _This is amazing,_ she thought as all three of her selves continued to dodge the apparition's attacks. _Ivory's currently in battle against Rhonda, but she has enough awareness of me to control her summon? Or maybe that thing can act independently. No, as far as I know, summoned creatures are controlled by the Schnees. They have a degree of autonomy, but not enough to make them this combat effective._

—

Lilly panted as she stumbled into the main chamber, destroying the entryway so that the pursuing Corrupted wouldn't be able to follow her. Unfortunately, the ruckus she caused caught the attention of the two patrolling great ogres in the big room.

"Great," she said to herself, taking the few seconds of rest she could before one of the giant ogres swung its massive bony club down at her.

She barely dodged the attack, jumping up into the air along with the rest of the debris that the impact sent flying. She landed on a small balcony before dodging another swing from the second ogre's giant axe. She leaped up, dodging the strike and running along the weapon and down the monster's arm. It swatted at her with its other hand, but she was quick to project a Shield Rune to block that attack before she followed up with a powerful Fire Rune attack, doubling up with a lightning attack out of a Wind Rune. Her assault nailed her target right in the eyes, blinding it.

 _Let's hope that lasts,_ she thought as she turned her attention to the first great ogre, which was swinging its giant club again.

She projected a Shield Rune to redirect the monster's weapon before swinging Myrtenaster outward and creating six Water Runes at the same time, directing them at the monster's club and blasting it with ice to bind it to the floor. She called upon the power of an Earth Rune and activated its strength boosting abilities. Her body was bathed with a brownish glow as her physical abilities increased, but before she could continue her assault, smaller Corrupted entered the room to reinforce their giant counterparts.

"That's just not fair!" she said before engaging.

—

The crowd rose to their feet as Ivory flew through Rhonda, who had become intangible, but the instant she returned to normal, Ivory turned around and opened up a glyph right beside her opponent, blasting her with a Fire Dust attack.

"Rhonda!" Samantha said just as she managed to defeat the summoned Atlesian Paladin. She glanced up at the monitors. Rhonda's aura had been brought down to 30%, but she was on the ropes. Ivory was on the offensive now, projecting countless glyphs all over the place to use as platforms. Her attack was relentless, eventually managing to force Rhonda out of the ring.

"Damn it!" Rhonda yelled.

Ivory was already facing Samantha, both competitors' auras at less than half. Samantha wouldn't be able to use her split form technique anymore without draining her aura to empty and Ivory wouldn't be able to rely on her glyphs as much as she had been. At least, that's what Samantha had assumed.

When Ivory resumed her onslaught of glyphs of all sorts, Samantha turned to the monitors. Her own aura took major hits from the Dust attacks, but Ivory's aura was still strong, almost as though her Semblance drained but a miniscule amount.

"How the hell can she be using her Semblance so much?" she said to herself as she dodged and blocked and tried to close the gap between them. When she finally got in close, she found herself surprised yet again. Ivory was moving at speeds that should not have been possible. Though Samantha was armed with two sabers as opposed to Ivory's single saber, the latter was able to dodge and parry as though she were armed with two as well.

 _What is going on?_ Samantha thought as she struggled to keep up with Ivory. She noticed that the latter was getting winded, though, and she used this opportunity to turn the tables, splitting herself up into only two this time so as to not suffer the drawback of having her abilities spread across three whole bodies. She nailed Ivory with a strong hit to the jaw, sending her flying, but Ivory recovered quickly, somersaulting and landing in a squat before dashing forward off of a glyph.

—

Lilly found herself overwhelmed with all of the Corrupted attacking her from every direction, but she was not one to be overcome. She remembered the fight with Ivory, taking everything she could from that battle. The first thing she did was open up dozens of runes of all types, sending a massive barrage to annihilate the approaching Corrupted horde, but there were still many more headed her way.

The image of her knight flashed into her mind and she drove Myrtenaster into the ground, forcing open that dark indigo summoning rune. A massive sword jutted out of the circle, slicing twenty incoming Corrupted in half before the rest of the knight pulled itself out of the rune, standing between Lilly and her enemies. It turned to her and she gave it a smile, nodding as it attacked ahead of her.

Lady and knight fought side by side, mowing down hordes of Corrupted before the duo engaged the two giant ogres. She looked up at her companion, who gave her a thumbs up. She returned the thumbs up with a huge smile before leading the charge.

"Let's do it!" she yelled, dodging a swing from one of the ogres before she dashed up its arm to assault its head. She looked over to the left. Her knight was doing the same thing. Just as she came to the ogre's face, it attacked her with its other hand, but she swing Myrtenaster and severed it at the wrist. She looked at her sword once more, noticing something odd about it, but in a flash, it was normal again.

 _That was weird,_ she thought. _I could swear it looked different just now._

She ran all the way to the monster's face, yelling as she leaped up into the air to bring her weapon down with as much force as she could. At the last instant, she noticed Myrtenaster change shape again before it cleaved the ogre's head in half. She pulled the sword out of the monster's skull, but it was back to normal once more.

"Am I seeing things?" she said to herself before losing her balance as the ogre fell to the ground. "Whoa!"

She leaped clear of the falling behemoth before turning to her knight, which landed gracefully on the ground as its opponent fell lifeless as well.

"We did it!" she said, hopping in the air before running to her knight and giving it a high five. It rested its massive sword on its shoulder and Lilly mimicked its pose. "We're awesome!"

The knight drove its sword into the ground before bowing its head to her. Realizing what this meant, Lilly curtseyed to the knight before it dissipated into twinkles of silver dust. Lilly didn't waste any time running to the family and leaping in the air to sever every single one of those disgusting red veins.

"Are you guys all right?" she said, running to each of the family members.

"Who...who are you?" the mother said.

"It's okay! Everything is gonna be okay from now on!" She ran to the father as he began to sob.

"What have I...what have I done?" he mumbled.

"Shh," Lilly said, consoling him. "It'll be all right. Go back to your family. In the real world. Hold them tightly and tell them you love them."

"All right. I'll do that. But...do you think they can ever forgive me?"

She gave him a smile, holding his face in her tender hands. "First you need to start by forgiving yourself. Everyone deserves forgiveness. Even you."

The man shed a tear before disappearing along with the rest of his family.

"Okay, time to get out of here!"

—

"And Ivory Schnee wins by aura depletion!" Tai announced.

Ivory was panting as she held a kneeling Samantha Quinn at sword point. Both had pushed themselves to the limit, but Ivory was the one to end up victorious.

"Good game," Samantha said, standing up and extending a hand.

Ivory sheathed Elfenbein, accepting the handshake.

"Heh. Part of me says it sucks getting my ass kicked by a sixteen-year-old, but knowing that you're the best of the best makes it easier to stomach."

"Give yourself some credit, Samantha Quinn," Ivory said. "You were able to fight toe to toe against Ivory Schnee and last as long as you did."

Samantha couldn't help but laugh. "You have every right to be a showoff. Good luck in the finals. Oh, wait, you probably don't need luck, do you?"

"I'm glad you recognize this fact," Ivory said as she walked off the ring to join her team.

"Officer on deck!" Yorath proclaimed.

"At ease."

"Captain," Renata began before Ivory cut her off.

"I won't hear another word about it, Renata."

"Ma'am."

"Come. I am hungry."

"I hear they have good pizza in campus cafeteria," Viktor said.

"Let's go to Vale. I think I want some sushi instead."

"Very well, captain," Yorath said as they followed after her.

"Shouldn't you get cleaned up first?" Renata said.

"I'm hungry _now_ , Renata," Ivory said, prompting her partner to chuckle.

"Roger that."

—

Lilly panted as she emerged into the real world, dusting herself off before looking down both ends of the alley to make sure no one saw her appear out of thin air like that. There were cheers coming from the street and she jogged over to see the screens replay the moment of Ivory's victory along with a number of other highlights of the match. She smiled to herself, congratulating her cousin mentally. She looked up at the afternoon sky. Even though she had yet to see results of her work in that other world, everything felt brighter already.

 _All in a day's work_ , she thought before skipping back to Beacon.

—

"It's confirmed?"

"Yes, sir. One of our drones captured her emerging into the real world out of nowhere."

"And you're sure it was out of nowhere."

"I'm sending you the footage now, sir. Just as we suspected, she crosses over with no outside assistance. To the onlooker, it looks as though she just vanishes or appears out of thin air."

"What about the readings?"

"As expected. All waveforms point to a Labyrinth, which we can confirm to have collapsed."

"The readings instantly vanished, huh?"

"That is correct, sir."

"Thank you. Keep me updated on the situation."


	35. Chapter XXXV

CHAPTER XXXV

 _Winner Take All_

"Did you guys hear?" Leon said as he walked into the team's dorm room. "Some dude in the city just turned himself in to the cops."

"For what?" Perseus asked.

"Apparently, he had been abusing his whole family for the last several years. Alcoholic, depressed and shit and I guess he took it out on his wife and kids."

"That's some fucked up shit. Good thing they caught him."

"That's the thing, though. Nobody 'caught' him. Like I said, he just walked to the police station and turned himself in."

Lilly yawned as she stumbled back into their room.

"Good morning, beautiful," Leon said, fixing her nightgown, which was falling off her shoulder.

She stared at him vacantly, blinking drowsily before climbing back up to her bunk, almost falling on her way up.

"I really think we should switch places," Ingrid said, chuckling as she watched her partner struggle.

Without responding, Lilly pulled the blanket over herself and curled up against the wall.

"Jeez, what the heck have you been doing all night to get you so pooped out?"

"Muffin," Lilly said, her voice muffled by her pillow.

Yuan glanced over at his team leader, allowing a small smile to spread on his face. He figured she was the one responsible for that news Leon had delivered just now. Yet another job well-done. He made it a point to congratulate her after everyone else had left.

"Hey," Leon said, leaning against his and Yuan's bunk. "You think she'll wake up if I give her a kiss?"

"If she doesn't slap you, I think Ingrid will," Yuan said.

They both looked over at their cat Faunus teammate. Her arms were folded across her chest, confirming Yuan's suspicions. They turned to the door. Athena and Echo were also standing guard. Yuan turned back to his partner, but he had disappeared in a cloud of rose petals, reappearing on his bunk as far in the corner as he could possibly be.

"I'm n-not scared," Leon stammered. "S-Seriously, not s-scared at all."

"You truly do deserve every bit of what you get from them," Xanthus said, leaning on the doorframe beside Athena and Echo.

"Don't look at me," Perseus said, standing up from the floor. "I'm just enjoying my breakfast."

—

The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived. The final match of the tournament was at hand. Of all who had the privilege to compete in this year's Vytal Festival, only one would be crowned ultimate victor.

"Folks," Tai began, "we bring you back, live, to the Amity Colosseum, where the final battle of the Vytal Festival Tournament is about to begin! Every single one of our competitors so far has shown incredible talent and I think we can all rest knowing that the future of Remnant is in the very capable hands of these Huntsmen-to-be! But, unfortunately, only one can be crowned as this year's champion. Will it be the prodigy princess from Atlas? Or will the Golden Girl of Vale take the top spot? Stay tuned, everybody! We're only minutes away from finding out!"

—

Ivory stood in front of the arena doors, taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment before letting it out slowly. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. Team IVRY had been undefeated for the last three years, a feat no other team has ever achieved. Team APEX also held a perfect record, but with only one school year under their belt, they were still a long way away from toppling Team IVRY's record.

Ivory had no intention of giving away the top spot so easily, not after all the hard work she had put into getting here. Fortunately for her, the shuffling of the singles round ensured that she and Athena would be in the final match of the tournament. Of every competitor to ever walk onto the ring, Athena Rose was the only one Ivory considered to be her direct rival.

At this point, winning alone was no longer satisfactory. Ivory would only accept victory or defeat if it were to be against the most powerful opponent she could possibly face. The match against Team LILY taught her this.

She gripped Elfenbein tightly as she recalled how her cousin matched every single attack she could throw at her. Until this month, she had always seen Lilly as no more than an illegitimate member of the family, a half-breed outsider who could not even use the family's Semblance.

And yet, despite Ivory having every advantage, Lilly managed to hold her own, even against Ivory's most powerful attacks. That she even came close to defeating her by ring-out _and_ aura depletion made Ivory realize that perhaps Lilly was not quite the failure she thought she was, that perhaps she truly did deserve Myrtenaster.

Rather, it was _she_ who did not deserve her aunt Weiss's legacy. No matter how much she looked up to her, she could never be her. No one else could ever fill in the shoes worn by the Silver Maiden, the person who saved the entire planet nearly twenty years ago.

"Are you ready, Ivory?" Winter said as she stood by her daughter's side.

"I am," she said without a hint of a doubt in her voice.

"Just remember what I told you before. It doesn't matter to me whether you win or lose here. You will always be my pride and joy."

"Yes, mother. But I need to do this for myself."

"I know. Now, go and do your best."

—

Athena gave both her parents a big, long hug as she stood before the doors to the arena.

"You know we're proud of you, right?" Jaune said to her.

"I know, dad," Athena said. "You and mom have told me, like, a hundred times since the tournament began."

Ruby chuckled. "We just wanna make sure you know. This match isn't gonna be for anyone else today. It's gonna be purely for you."

"Don't listen to mom and dad," Leon said, crossing his arms. "You kick Ivory's ass."

"Leon!" Ruby scolded him.

Jaune couldn't fight the chuckle. "Well, do what you need to do."

"You shouldn't be encouraging such behavior!" Ruby scolded Jaune before turning to Athena. "But, I mean, if you _do_ kick her butt, I won't be mad. Just sayin'."

"Super sayin'?" Yang said, joining them with Raven.

"Aunt Yang!" Athena said, running to her and embracing both her and her great aunt. "Commander Raven!" she said, straightening up.

"Oh, goodness," Raven said. "Leon has infected you, hasn't he?"

She chuckled before bumping fists with both Raven and Yang.

"Okay, you know what to do," Jaune said.

"Yeah," Athena said, standing before the big doors on her own.

"We're already proud of you," Ruby said, leaning against Jaune.

She glanced back, giving both her parents a smile. She spotted her brother leaning against a pillar. He held out a single thumb up and she gave him a nod.

—

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised at this year's final round," Tai began his announcement. "After all, both of these fighters have shown incredible promise. Ivory Schnee has been undefeated since she started attending Atlas Academy three years ago, breaking all sorts of records left and her right along her climb up to the heights she enjoys now. A third-year student at only sixteen years of age, she definitely deserves her shot at the title this year, especially since her team didn't qualify for the previous Vytal Festival Tournament."

"But we can't forget about the other contender for the top spot," Qrow said. "Your granddaughter is another one who's shown a lot of promise. Athena Rose is called the Golden Girl of Vale for a reason. Like Ivory, she, too, has been undefeated since she started at Beacon, but her winning streak started way back at Signal. I'm sure you saw her talents for yourself, Tai."

"I definitely did, Qrow. She's got her mom's combat prowess and her dad's tactical mind. Who do you think is the crowd favorite here? The girl from Vale or the princess of Atlas?"

"From the sound of the screaming out there, I'd say both have equal following. But crowd favoritism doesn't win matches, Tai."

"You're absolutely right about that. Now, folks, let's find out which of these two young Huntresses-in-training will take gold this year!"

—

Lilly and the others cheered along with the crowd. Leon had rejoined them along with the rest of his family at the same ringside booth they'd been occupying since the beginning of the tournament. This was as close as they were going to get for this match.

"So, who are you guys cheering for?" Weiss asked the youngsters.

"Ma'am," Perseus began, "no offense to your family or anything, but I'm voting against your niece."

She chuckled.

"Yeah, I have to second that," Echo said.

"Besides," Xanthus said, pushing up his glasses, "that's our team captain out there. You can bet we're giving her our full support."

"What about Team LILY?" Penny asked them.

"Athena," Ingrid, Leon, and Yuan all said simultaneously. When they realized Lilly hadn't answered, they turned to her.

"What?" she said.

"You're not actually rooting for your cousin, are you?" Ingrid said.

"Yeah," Leon said. "I mean, she did kinda try to kill you."

"Don't be silly, guys," Lilly said. "Ivory's not stupid. She knows how much a person's aura can take."

Weiss and Winter glanced at each other.

"I know there can be only one winner," Lilly continued, "but I'm cheering them both on. I hope that, no matter who wins between them, that they'll both learn something from their match."

"Did you learn from your own match against Ivory?" Weiss asked her.

"Yup," she said with a smile. "I learned that maybe I _do_ have what it takes to inherit your sword."

Weiss smiled before reaching over and holding her close. "What's changed with you?" she asked.

"Oh, muffin. I just figured out where I belong in the world, that's all."

"And where's that?"

"With all of you, of course!"

Chuckles went around. Yuan was the only one who knew what she truly meant. After all this time, Lilly had finally carved out her niche in life. Her own self-imposed duty now was to go around that alternate reality formed out of people's inner demons and cleanse them of their darkness. He only wished he could join her and give her the support she needed. On second thought, maybe she didn't need help at all. She seemed to be getting stronger with each passing day. By now, she had caught up with everyone else, no longer lingering at the bottom of the stack. With a little more work, she might even be able to surpass those two warrior princesses down in the ring right now.

—

Athena and Ivory were focused, never taking their eyes off the other for even an instant as they stepped into the ring to face off. Even the roaring of the crowd would not distract these two young warriors in training. The only thing ahead of either was victory.

The bell rang and both warriors dashed at each other with incredible speed, exchanging blows and parries and near-misses with expert skill. Eventually, the match fell into a blade deadlock and both warriors found that they possessed near-equal strength. Ivory was the one to break the clash with a small glyph empowered with Fire Dust, which Athena swiftly dodged, somersaulting and landing several yards away.

They both grinned at one another before exploding into another scuffle, with Ivory now supplementing with glyphs and Dust attacks. None of this had any effect on Athena. Her skill with her Semblance and shield was phenomenal and she blocked every single Dust attack no matter what angle it came from, all while simultaneously fighting with Ivory up close. It seemed the two had near-perfect control over their Semblances and total awareness of the battle. Ivory's glyphs opened up at angles that would have otherwise been impossible to defend, but Aegis would already be there to block the attacks.

"Your work with your saber is pretty good," Athena said, trying to push back against Ivory's weapon as they deadlocked again.

"You trying to get on my good side?" Ivory said, managing to overpower Athena and swinging, but the latter had her weapon in the way to parry the attack in less time than it takes to blink. She countered by quickly morphing Pallas into its rifle form and taking a shot at Ivory, but the latter already had a glyph open to deflect the gunfire and the fight once again descended into a melee.

—

"I wonder why Ivory's not using her super glyph barrage thing this time," Leon said.

Ingrid looked up at the monitors. "Their auras haven't even dipped one bit," she said. "Look. They're both still close to max."

In the meantime, Lilly concentrated on the fight. She realized that this was all nothing but warm-up. The real battle had yet to begin. Both competitors knew by now how the other operated, but they were also clever enough to change up their tactics as the need arose. This was their way of getting a feel for one another's styles.

—

Both fighters had ramped up the intensity and Ivory had taken to opening multiple glyphs. Athena may have been good, but defending against simultaneous attacks from all sorts of directions was impossible with just Aegis alone. She hurled Pallas at Ivory, which broke the latter's concentration enough for Athena to find an opening and get in close, using Aegis as an offensive implement while she recalled Pallas with her Semblance.

"You're not fighting me at your best," Ivory said as they got into another blade deadlock.

"I'm only returning the favor," Athena said. "What happened to those hundreds of glyphs you fired at Lilly?"

"You mean these?"

Athena looked around. She hadn't noticed that Ivory had opened a number of glyphs all over her. "Are you trying to blow yourself up, too?" she yelled.

"Of course not!" Ivory said before projecting another glyph beneath her feet to launch her away before she unleashed the power of all twenty-four glyphs at Athena.

The crowd rose to its feet as Athena was blocked from view by a thick cloud of smoke from the impact of all the Dust attacks. The monitors displayed her aura at 70%. She had taken quite a hit from that barrage, but it was apparently still not enough to take her down completely.

Ivory stood her ground, Elfenbein ready for combat. She wasn't naïve enough to think that her attack just now was capable of taking down someone as skilled as Athena. The barrage didn't even take down a tenth of her aura just now, which told her that her opponent had the skill to block or dodge even that many strikes at once.

Aegis flew out of the dust cloud and Ivory only just managed to block the flying shield with Elfenbein, but the force behind the throw was enough to knock her off-balance. Athena was already flying at her when she regained her composure. The Golden Girl of Vale would have landed a powerful downward spear thrust had it not been for a series of glyphs that Ivory projected to slow down her attack.

Athena was ready for that, however, and the instant she touched down on the ground, she exploded into a relentless assault, holding her spear with both hands for greater power and leverage, but something was strange about her opponent's movements. She had noticed this before during Ivory's match with Team SQRL, but now that she had a closer look, she knew exactly what was going on.

—

"One of the interesting things about the Schnee Semblance is its versatility," Qrow commented. "The most common use is with Dust, as we have seen Ivory doing in all of her matches since the tournament started."

"But she can also summon fallen enemies with those glyphs, right?" Tai said.

"Yeah, but that takes a lot more power than the simpler uses of their glyphs."

"Like platforming and physics manipulation."

"You got it. Out of the major uses, platform glyphs take the least amount of power. Dust attacks use up a little bit more than platforms, and physics manipulation glyphs, like speed and slowing down, use up even more than that, but the most power intensive are summoning glyphs."

"Right, because you're literally manifesting something out of nothing. Well, not out of nothing, but out of your aura."

"Yeah. This is why you rarely see the Schnees using that power unless they've got backup or there's plenty of room between them and their opponents."

"You're saying that Ivory can't call on one of her summons because of the fact that Athena just won't give her any room to even breathe."

"That, and the summon probably wouldn't even work. Athena could probably kill it in less time and with less effort than it would take to summon it to begin with."

"Ivory certainly is smart, ain't she?"

"She didn't become top dog for nothing. But here's the thing. You know that she mastered the Schnee Semblance when she was only ten years of age, don't you?"

"I've heard that, but I thought it was nothing more than a rumor."

"It's true. And they also say that she's been experimenting with the glyphs, trying stuff that no one else has tried before."

"I guess you can't beat the creativity of a kid."

—

"So," Athena said, facing off with Ivory. "I had a feeling you were augmenting yourself somehow."

Ivory said nothing in response.

"You thought I wouldn't notice those little snowflakes on your wrists and ankles, didn't you?"

"Well, I was hoping you weren't paying attention," Ivory said.

"It's real subtle, but I can just barely see them. Like transparent little holograms and stuff."

"That's because they're at low power. Now that the secret's out, though, I might as well go full swing."

The glyphs at her wrists and ankles increased in opacity, appearing like bracelets and anklets.

"This is the only way I could ever hope to match the Golden Girl of Vale," Ivory said. "You're way too strong and way too fast, even for me."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Athena said.

"Oh, believe me, it is."

Ivory dashed at her and Athena found herself evenly matched. This was not going to be an easy fight, not by a long shot.

—

"You must be really proud of her," Weiss said to her sister.

"I am," Winter said. "She's surpassed all of us. She might not have the power of the Silver Maiden, but she's got the drive, the will, everything. I only wish she could learn to let go of certain things."

"She's worse than you and me, huh?"

"Much worse. Athena might have pressure from the outside to perform, but for Ivory, it comes from within. Of course, there's also a lot of pressure from her peers and her instructors, but most of it comes from herself. She looks up to both of us, you know. Particularly you."

Weiss smiled. "Kinda like how I look up to you."

"Sure," Winter chuckled. "Although Ivory's way more subtle about it. You made it really obvious back in the day."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Winter kissed her sister on the head. "It means I love you, Weiss."

—

Athena barely dodged a barrage Ivory had thrown at her. She had the upper hand in close range combat, but Ivory's mid-range to long-range capabilities were incredible. Add to that the physical enhancements her arm and leg glyphs provided and the Schnee princess had pretty much all of the bases covered.

 _But she still relies on her glyphs way too much,_ Athena said before dashing at her opponent.

Ivory gasped as Athena dodged every single glyph attack on her way in and she was forced to increase the power of her augmentation glyphs once more as Athena unleashed a flurry of attacks. She was a lot faster and a lot stronger than she was earlier.

"You've been holding back," Ivory said.

"Like I said, just returning the favor!" Athena said, swinging Pallas with enough strength to hurl Ivory several yards even though she blocked perfectly.

Ivory landed in a squat, looking up at Athena, who was rushing at her. She needed to come up with something quickly or this would be it for her. She opened up thirty-six glyphs in different locations, most of them around herself, others where Athena originated. She opened another series of glyphs starting at her own feet and as soon as Athena was within range, she unleashed her attack, filling the arena with Ice and Fire Dust as her other glyphs carried her off to safety.

 _Not again,_ she thought as she looked at the cloud of debris. She was ready for Aegis this time, but Athena surprised her with shots from her rifle, which she was forced to block with her glyphs. Athena's next attack was Pallas itself, which flew out of the dust cloud and began fighting with Ivory.

 _This is impossible!_ Ivory thought. _This thing can target me, but I have no target!_

Realizing that Athena was still in the cloud of debris controlling her spear, Ivory quickly projected as many glyphs as she could in such a short time and launched them all at once. The spear fell to the ground. Ivory looked up at the monitors. Both their auras were right at half. This fight was far from over.

Athena flew out of the debris cloud with Aegis held forward, blocking every Dust attack Ivory had to throw at her. The latter dashed out of the way, assisted by the power of her glyphs, while Athena rolled on the ground, picking up Pallas as she resumed her onslaught.

"Your saber isn't ferromagnetic," Athena said as she exchanged blows with Ivory.

"Oh, so you noticed, huh?" Ivory said.

"You've been expecting to face me in the final round."

"I've been hoping. And my prayers were answered."

"You flatter me."

Both fighters escalated the match, taking more risks and no longer holding back. They had both gotten used to each other's pattern of attack and countering became a simple matter of rock-paper-scissors, which would always return to a melee scuffle, which Athena excelled at.

 _I'm not gonna last at this rate,_ Ivory thought, slowly accepting the idea that she might fall to Athena today. _But I'm not giving up that easily!_

Athena brought up Aegis to block a powerful Explosive Dust attack, which sent her flying backwards. The instant she touched down on the ground, she resumed her assault, never allowing Ivory the opportunity to set up her most powerful techniques.

This was always how she fought, overwhelming her opponents with a blitz of attacks, never letting them put any plans together while she formulated her own strategies at the same time. This aggression was born of two things: the fear of letting down all of those who chanted the name "Golden Girl of Vale" and the simultaneous frustration with those same people for expecting so much out of her.

She only ever wanted to excel for her own self, to see how far she could go under her own power. But as soon as the rest of the world got involved in her achievements, the pressure changed into something she could only describe as irritating. Athena Rose, the Golden Girl of Vale, was no longer allowed to lose any of her matches. No doubt there was even betting going on out there, half of the gamblers with their money on her and the other half favoring Ivory.

But out of the thousands of voices that chanted her name over and over again, nothing stood out more than the voices of her parents.

 _We're already proud of you._

It was at that exact instant, recalling her mother's voice in her head, that Athena Rose was finally able to let go of everything.

She faced off against Ivory Schnee, the one who presented more of a challenge to her than anyone else she had ever fought. This final clash would be it. Both were at 20% aura, mere inches from elimination. And yet, despite the colossal pressure that should have been on her shoulders, Athena Rose was at absolute peace. Her entire body was relaxed, soul at rest. She could do anything at this point. No goal was out of reach.

This was it.

The moment of her life.

Nothing would stop her from seizing it.

"Are you ready?" Athena said, tightening her grip on Pallas and Aegis.

"I've been ready for this my whole life," Ivory said, also tightening her grip around Elfenbein.

Athena couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face. It wasn't a smile of confidence or anything even remotely similar. It was a smile of pure tranquility, a smile that Ivory could not even begin to understand.

It was Lilly's smile. And it had managed to find its way to Athena.

"Now!" Athena yelled.

"Let's do this!" Ivory replied.

They dashed at each with the last amounts of their strength, Ivory powered by her enhancement glyphs and Athena soaring forth with her own natural strength. The moment seemed to stand still for both fighters as they charged at one another's weaknesses, victory the only thing on their minds.

And then, Ivory gasped.

"What?" she demanded as her attack connected perfectly with Athena's chest, obliterating her aura and sending her flying out of the ring.

Athena had missed her mark completely. No, that wasn't it. Ivory saw it all, the slackening grip around Pallas, the lowering of Aegis. Athena had thrown the fight, but Ivory could not figure out why. The younger of the two could not help but stare with her mouth open as Athena got up to walk back into the ring.

"What the hell was that?" Ivory screamed. "No! This is _not_ going to happen like this! We are going to finish this fight!"

"What are you talking about?" Athena said. "The fight's already done. You won, Ivory."

"No! I _refuse_ to accept this! Not like _this_!"

"Like what?"

"Why, Athena Rose? Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You _threw_ the match!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ivory. You beat me fair and square."

"No! You, you...!"

Athena put a hand on her shoulder. "There's more to life than winning. That's what I learned from our match tonight."

Ivory gasped, looking straight ahead as her mother's face flashed into her mind.

 _It doesn't matter to me whether you win or lose here. You will always be my pride and joy._

"M...Mom..." she said as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey," Athena said. "You don't want anybody seeing that, do you?"

She turned to her opponent.

"Besides. You've gotta look good for all the cameras."

Ivory's whole body was limp as Athena took her by the hand, raising it up high for the crowd to appreciate. The sportsmanship alone garnered more applause than the victory itself. All around the stadium, perhaps all around the world, Ivory's fans chanted her name over and over again, reveling in her triumph this year.

She hadn't noticed the crowd gathering around her, not her team, nor Demetri, who never failed to be by her side. Her mother was also there to give her an embrace, but Ivory returned the touch flaccidly. Even her aunt Weiss, whom she idolized, could not break her out of her stupor.

Out of everyone, it would be her cousin to shatter the ice surrounding her heart.

"Ivory!" Lilly yelled as she threw her arms around her. "Nice work, little cousin!"

Ivory slowly turned her head to her elder cousin, that daughter of the Silver Maiden, the girl who did not deserve any of the slurs and insults she had hurled at her all their lives. She wanted to take it all back, to return to all of those times and stop herself from going down that road.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lilly said, holding her cousin by the shoulders.

To Lilly's surprise, Ivory slowly pulled her close, hugging her more tightly than she had ever hugged anyone in her life.

"I know!" Lilly said, looking her cousin in the eye. "Let's go get some ice cream!"

"You and your ice cream," Ivory managed, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"What's wrong with ice cream?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just have to wonder. Is it a Schnee thing to want cold treats all the time?"

Lilly giggled before giving her little cousin another hug.


	36. Chapter XXXVI

CHAPTER XXXVI

 _A Knight's Oath_

The goodbyes were bittersweet. The month of the Vytal Festival had brought together families and friends, but the time for gathering had come and gone and everyone returned to their homes.

"I'm gonna miss you," Lilly said, holding her mother tightly.

"Me, too, darling," Weiss said, returning her daughter's embrace.

Lilly pulled away. "Hey, hey, wait, I never got to ask you."

"What is it?"

"That super big sword you fought in the exhibition match with, was that really yours?"

She chuckled. "Yes, that is a sword I had William Hillphire forge for me a number of years back."

"Aww! How come I never saw it?"

"Because it's been with him all this time. He delivered it to me personally after their demonstration during the parade."

"Ohh, I see. So, I guess you won't be needing this anymore?" She held up Myrtenaster.

"I handed that to you for a reason, Lilly. It's your turn to bear it."

Lilly smiled at her mother. "I'll take good care of it!"

"I know." She kissed her on the forehead before heading up the ramp. "You make sure to bring your friends to the house for winter break, okay?"

"Okay!" She waved to her mother and to her aunt and cousin. "Congrats on the win, Ivory!"

Ivory acknowledged her cousin, but she didn't reply. Not verbally, anyway. She was still irritated at how she had won the final match, but at the same time she realized that perhaps it wasn't that important at all. Her own cousin had lost in the first match of the tournament and yet she was probably the happiest person here.

Lilly waved to all three of her family members as the shuttle closed its doors and lifted off to join the rest of the fleet to Atlas.

—

"Don't forget to eat well!" Nora said, giving her son a hug.

"Mom, I know," he said.

"He's the one who cooks for us," Ingrid said.

"Ohh!" Nora squealed. "He cooks for you?"

Ingrid found herself reddening. "Yes, he does."

"He got that from his father! You know how the saying goes! The quickest way to a girl's heart is through her stomach!"

"Mom, please," Yuan groaned.

"Take care of yourself, son," Ren said, embracing him.

"I will, dad. And there's nothing to worry about. We all look after each other."

"That's what I was waiting to hear."

"Oh, my family's about to leave, too," Ingrid said, watching as her younger siblings ran around.

"Aww!" Leon said, joining them. "My favorite litter is going away."

"I'm gonna miss you!" Fiona yelled, leaping into his arms. "Nibble on my ears again, please?"

Leon chuckled before doing just that, making her giggle.

"Oh, thank god she enjoys that shit," Ingrid said. "Hey, Fi. You're attending Beacon Academy this year, right?"

"Psh," Fiona said. "I'm gonna be in the first batch ever at Instinct Academy."

"Dammit."

"Why?"

"So Leon will leave my ears alone!"

She giggled. "Why don't you let him play with them?"

"Because he never asks for permission!"

"It's the surprises that are the best! Oooh, the tingles!"

"Okay, okay," Leon chuckled. "Your whole family's gonna leave you behind."

"Hey! You better reply to my texts this time!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Don't you 'yeah-yeah' me!"

"I swear I'll write you!"

"You butter!"

"Take care of yourself, dear," Blake said, embracing her eldest daughter.

"It's like Yuan said," Ingrid began, "we look after each other."

"Damn right," Sun said as he shook hands with Yuan. "You look after my little girl, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir," Yuan said.

"Hey, haven't you heard?" Leon said. "This guy already took a bullet for her."

"No shit!" Sun said. "Wait, when the fuck did this happen?"

"It's a long story," Ingrid said. "Now hurry up or you guys are gonna miss your flight!"

"Bye, Yuan!" Francine and Justine said as they embraced him from either side before Ingrid pried them off of him. "Bye sis!"

"See ya later, sis," Han said, giving her a high five before poking her in the side with his tail and making her growl at him.

"Wait!" Hollie yelled as she and Astor caught up to the party. "Oh my god, I thought we were gonna get left behind!"

"Peace out, y'all," Astor said, bumping fists with Leon and giving Ingrid a hug. "Hey, where's that beautiful blonde sister of yours?"

"Probably hanging out with her girlfriend," Leon said.

"I'd go look for her, but I can't make us miss our flight. Eh, tell her I said—" He made a heart shape with his hands.

Leon chuckled. "Okay, dude."

"Where the heck is Hillphire and his people?" Hollie said.

"I think that's them," Yuan said, looking up at the sky.

Hillphire and his two companions landed softly nearby before retracting their suits and walking up to them.

"Sorry about that," Hillphire said. "I just had to say goodbye to Ruby and Jaune."

"They're staying for a bit longer, right?" Nora said.

"Yeah. Oh, I just realized I never introduced all of you. These two are my teammates, Sara Windfield and Jerry Brimstone. And that one running this way is my cousin, Ariel. Also a Hillphire."

"Where's the fourth pilot?" Yuan said.

"Project Persephone's up in the flagship already," Sara said.

"I think I see Penny," Ingrid said, looking to the distance. "Yup, that's Penny."

"Oh, thank goodness," Penny said, panting as she stooped over. "I thought I was gonna miss you guys!"

"You do know we miss you, right?" Jerry said, giving her a wink.

She giggled. "You haven't changed one bit."

"And you're as beautiful as ever."

"Don't let Ariel hear you say that!"

He reddened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She laughed before giving Hillphire a hug. "I'll see you when I see you, Liam," she said.

He gave her a smile, noticing Sara keeping her distance. Penny surely picked up on his awkwardness as well. Unlike Sara, though, Penny couldn't block out other people's emotions. He did his best to keep those less pleasant feelings from surfacing as he returned her embrace.

"You take care of them, Penny," Hillphire said, referring to the youngsters.

"I know," she said quietly. "I won't let anything happen to those kids."

—

"So," Athena said, sitting with Echo on a fountain as they watched the airships leave one after the other. "Your family never got to make it?"

"I don't think they ever planned on coming," Echo said. "It's not like our village was all that big to begin with. I don't think the signal from the towers even reaches us."

"That won't do. We'll deliver them our fight by hand if we have to. They've gotta see their daughter kicking ass with the best team in all of Beacon."

"I guess."

"C'mon. Why are you so down right now?"

"It's nothing."

"Hey."

Echo looked up. Athena was standing in front of her.

"I won't accept that."

"Sorry," Echo sighed. "I just...I haven't heard from them since spring semester started. They used to send e-mails pretty regularly, but after February, they just dropped off. I always figured it was because electronic communication is pretty expensive and they just wanted to save money, but I'm getting kinda worried."

"Why don't we go see them?"

"My village?"

"Yeah. One of the projects we have for our first semester this year is to do some unsupervised patrols further out, right? We can go straight to Headmaster Pine and request that spot for our team."

"Yeah. I guess."

They both looked over to Xanthus, who was on his scroll.

"His family couldn't make it out this year, too," Echo said.

"Yeah, he told me," Athena said. "His dad's pretty busy with all that smithing work."

"Which doesn't make any sense. You'd think he'd be out here to peddle all of his new weapons and stuff."

"Well, apparently he doesn't work independently anymore. Hillphire Innovations drafted him."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah."

Upon hanging up his scroll, Xanthus joined the two girls.

"Was that your special lady?" Athena said, winking.

"Yes, actually," Xanthus said. "Who's more special than mother, after all."

"Aww!" both Athena and Echo said at the same time.

"Hey, where is Perseus?"

"Probably saying his byes to his family," Athena said.

"Oh, right. He's the only one from Vacuo. I hope he isn't taking all this political stuff too hard."

"There's no doubt he is," Echo said. "I mean, don't you remember how broken up he was when he found out that it might have been his people who nearly killed Ingrid and Yuan?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Let's go meet up with everybody else," Athena said. "He'll probably head there as soon as the shuttles have left."

—

Oscar oversaw the cleanup of Beacon and Vale after the Vytal Festival had finished. All of the major delegates and representatives had already returned to their respective kingdoms and he was left with Glynda, Qrow, and Tai to take charge.

"It's a good thing nothing crazy happened this time around," Qrow said.

"I dunno about that," Tai said. "That tournament was pretty crazy all on its own. From the exhibition match between Teams RWBY and JNPR to the first match of the year between Teams LILY and IVRY, and then the final match between Athena and Ivory."

"You must be proud of your granddaughter," Glynda said.

"Hell yeah I am. She got into a ring with Ivory Schnee and didn't die. That's a plus in my book."

Qrow chuckled. "You swear as if that kid was actually out for blood," he said.

"Well, I'm sure she gets that from her mom. I still remember watching videos on that fight in the courtyard between you and Winter! That was great!"

They both looked over at Glynda, who wasn't amused.

"I don't think she agrees," Qrow said.

"Well, she _was_ the one who had to fix _your_ mess!" Tai said.

"How long do you plan on staying, Tai?" Oscar asked.

"Long as you need me for. Signal's on summer break and so am I. Yang said she's stickin' around for a bit, too. Maybe I'll get caught up with the girls."

"And your estranged wife?" Qrow chuckled.

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"Why don't the three of us grab a drink later, huh?"

"I thought you swore off alcohol when you settled down with that little lady of yours."

"I did swear off alcohol. You won't see any rubbing alcohol on me ever."

Tai laughed. "Okay, Qrow. Your kid was pretty good, by the way."

He didn't answer. He certainly was proud. He couldn't ask for more. He had a loving wife who was high ranking in society and a child who could carry on his legacy. He looked up at Tai, who winked at him.

"C'mon, stop that," Qrow said.

"Stop what?" Tai said. "Since when did _you_ turn into the bashful type, huh?"

"Okay, you can fuck off now."

"Seriously, brother. I hope you took the time to give that young lady of yours a kiss before she took that shuttle back home."

—

Perseus stared at his scroll for a long time. It wasn't until someone bumped into him that he was taken out of his reverie and remembered what it was he was supposed to be doing. He had gotten a text message from Athena inviting him out. He hadn't responded yet. He dialed Lilly's number instead.

"Hey, what's up?" she said.

"Lilly," he began.

"What is it?"

"Can I talk to you? Alone, I mean."

"Yeah, hang on—"

"Wait, don't tell anybody else."

"Oh. Okay. I mean, sure. Where do you wanna meet up?"

"The café. Usual hangout."

"Is everything all right?"

"I hope so."

—

"What's the matter?" Yuan asked Lilly.

"Nothing," she said. "I just need to take care of something real quick before I join you guys."

"Does it have to do with, well, you know what?"

"Yeah. It'll be quick. I'll catch up to you."

She hurried back to campus, walking briskly to the café. Perseus was seated at one of the tables, already drinking coffee. There was a cup for her, too.

"I came as quickly as I could," she said, sitting down.

"I got you your favorite," he said, pushing her cup over to her.

"Oh, thank you," she said as she took a sip. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"The trips you've been making into that other world."

Her heart skipped a beat. There was no way he didn't notice that flinch, but she feigned ignorance nonetheless.

"Um, what are you talking about?" she said.

"You don't have to hide it, Lilly," he said, turning over his scroll to her to show a video of her popping into existence as she emerged from that parallel world. "This isn't the only one. Apparently, a lot of people have been keeping tabs on you."

She didn't reply.

"I also did some digging of my own. Seems like certain people have gone through major changes after you did whatever it was you did in that other world. Like Mizuki. I mean, when you told us that story, it was pretty crazy. But then you've been gone a lot, supposedly training with Penny. Looks like you _have_ been training. Just not with Penny. Because I did ask her about that and she said you guys never did any training."

"Perseus," she began.

"You don't have to explain anything, Lilly. Why you do what you do isn't any of my business. But there is something. This...thing, this other world, they call it the Labyrinth."

"What?"

"It's apparently been known to some of the higher ups in the government for a long time. Since the, heh, Labyrinth War. Apparently, it's what they named the war after in the first place. Supposedly, during the final hours of the war the entire planet was sucked into this Labyrinth, which no one remembers, strangely. Then again, the people in the real world don't seem to be aware of your interventions, so I guess that's not a surprise."

"I don't understand. Why are you telling me all this?"

"Lilly," he said, squaring off with her. "My father has been part of this program, something to counteract the Labyrinths."

"Huh?"

"It's not just him. All of the kingdoms view the Labyrinth as some kind of threat, though the severity varies between kingdoms. Vale, Mistral, and Menagerie don't really view it as too much of an issue, but both Atlas and Vacuo are very concerned with it. Remember all those missing persons cases?"

She nodded.

"All because of these Labyrinths."

"So...what do you want from me?"

He hesitated, trying to formulate an answer in his head. "I want you to bring me with you."

"B-Bring you with me?"

He nodded. "You are the only one in the entire world who has the power to go in and out at will and even free the hearts of those trapped within. I don't want you to shoulder that kind of burden on your own anymore."

"But—"

"And before you go on about my safety and all that, isn't this what we enrolled at Beacon Academy for? To become soldiers in the fight against darkness? Sure, we joined with the expectation that we were gonna fight against the Grimm, but this is much bigger than any of that. And I don't wanna be left out of it. I also don't want to be known as the guy who let Lilly Schnee go into the Labyrinths all on her own and not even lift a finger to help her."

"But, I don't even know if you can follow me."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

She looked down at the table. Perseus had a point. They did become Huntsmen-in-training for the purpose of protecting humanity. But this, what Perseus was asking for, it was far more than any normal human being could handle. The things she saw in that place, most people would not be able to sleep normally ever again. Even she was beginning to feel the weight pressing down on her from her repeated incursions.

But perhaps having a partner would ease that burden. After all, if she was able to accomplish all of those things on her own, two of them might be able to get twice as much done and save twice as many people. Perhaps she could even save _everyone_.

"Okay," Lilly said with no doubt in her mind.

Perseus let out a sigh of relief and then took a sip of his coffee. They sat in silence for a while.

"Hey," Lilly said.

"Hmm?"

"What's your home like?"

"You mean Vacuo?"

She nodded.

"Well, there's lots and lots of sand. Except for the actual city, though. My family's turned the capital into an oasis."

"Oh, that's so cool!"

"Huh?"

"My home town is called Oasis!"

He chuckled. "So, then, how do we do this thing?"

"First, I need to find a target."

"How do you even do that?"

"It's kind of...I can't really explain it, but it's all in my gut."

"You kinda feel them out?"

"Yeah. I don't really get how it works either. It just comes to me and I jump in."

"How do you even jump in?"

She shrugged. "I don't know that either."

He began laughing. "Wait, so you've been doing this all this time without a single clue as to what the hell you're even doing?"

"Pretty much."

"Shit. Like leader, like team, I guess."

They shared a chuckle.

"Look," Lilly began, "I don't want the others suspecting anything. Why don't you go out with them for now while I scope out a new target?"

"What about you?" he said.

"I'm gonna go check the news or something, see if I can find someone who probably has a Labyrinth."

—

"Where the fuck are those two?" Athena said.

"Watch your language!" Ruby yelled at her.

"Sorry, mom. But seriously, where are they?"

Echo's scroll rang and she looked at it. She responded to the text message quickly. "Perseus is on his way," she said. "Just finished saying 'bye' to his family."

"Oh, right, they have their own private shuttles," Leon said. "Jeez. But where the heck is Lilly?"

"She said she had some stuff to take care of back on campus," Yuan said.

"What stuff? We're all done with school for another whole month."

He shrugged, refraining from mentioning anything about her trips into that other world. That was something she made him promise to keep between himself and her. Even now she was probably running around in one, being a hero, the kind of hero none of them could ever hope to be.

"Here he is!" Leon said, bumping fists with Perseus as the latter passed behind his chair to sit between Xanthus and Athena.

"Thanks for saving me a seat," he said to his team.

"We weren't gonna leave your ass out," Athena said.

"Athena!" Ruby yelled again.

"Sorry, mom!"

"You got in trouble!" Leon said before his elder sister flicked an olive at his head.

"I propose a toast," Xanthus said, standing up. "To our wonderful coach, Penny, without whom we could never have gotten this far, and to our instructors, Professors Branwen and Goodwitch."

Everyone raised their glasses.

"You forgot one thing, Xanthus," Penny said, standing up with her own glass. "To the best two teams Beacon Academy has ever seen."

"Um, excuse me?" Ruby said, standing up with Yang.

"Yeah," Yang said. "You wanna fight?"

"Guys, guys," Jaune said, standing up. "We all know Team JNPR was the best team at Beacon."

"I think we'll take you guys up on that challenge," Athena said, standing with her glass in hand as well. "Right, Team APEX?"

"Hooah!" her team replied in unison as they stood with her.

"Well," Leon said, rising with his team, "our leader ain't here, but I think she'd appreciate us accepting this challenge."

"When you kids graduate," Raven said, standing with her brother and her estranged husband, "Team STRQ would be interested in testing your strength."

"Umm," Penny said, looking over at Glynda, who sat beside Oscar. "She doesn't look too thrilled about what we're doing right now."

"If you all create a mess here today," Glynda began, "I will not be the one to clean it up for you."

Oscar chuckled before standing up with his glass in hand. "A toast," he said. "To all of you. Heroes from the previous war and the next generation, who are showing themselves to be worthy of inheriting the mantle."

 _"Cheers!"_

—

Leon: _ur missin out on some goooood foooood dude!_

Lilly: _looool ur so lame_

Leon: _wru anywy?_

Lilly: _im on a secret mission!_

Leon: _o.O_

Lilly: _nvm lol ill tty about it l8r_

Lilly pocketed her scroll before continuing her research. The school library's computers contained a wealth of information, including the most current of news. She continued scrolling down until she finally ran into what she figured was a strong candidate. Not everyone necessarily had a Labyrinth that she could walk around in. Such a phenomenon was reserved only for the most severe of cases, those with extreme depression like Mizuki, or those tormented by personal demons like that family she had just saved not too long ago. Even people like Yuan, who appeared normal on the outside, might have some kind of budding guilt that allowed a Labyrinth to form around their hearts.

Her target today was a young man who had lost his young wife to a terminal illness. Such a tragedy would undoubtedly tear anyone to pieces, but from what she was reading on news sites and social media accounts, he hadn't been seen at work in months, only ever leaving his apartment to visit her grave every Saturday. Lilly vowed at this moment that she would save him. She would make the preliminary incursion into his Labyrinth, scouting out the place and locating the core, where his inner self would be bound to the world with those grotesque, vein-like restraints.

 _I swear it,_ Lilly thought as she walked out of the library into Beacon Academy's quad. She walked to the front of the knight statue, facing the marble figure with equal gallantry in her stance.

"I swear I will save them all."


End file.
